The Ballad of Oreonna Delsole
by LongSean22
Summary: Tukson was a lot of things to a lot of people. Faunus, freedom-fighter, murderer, and small business owner, to name a few. But only one person called him father. This is the story of his daughter; Oreonna, and her quest to become a huntress. Join her as she travels to a far off kingdom, makes new friends, and runs into some familiar faces along the way.
1. Humble Beginnings

**Chapter One- Humble Beginnings**

The rain poured down on the kingdom of Vale, the downtown district of the city was slick with water and the streetlights reflected in the rapidly growing puddles in the street. It was around midnight, that combined with the poor weather had confined most of it's citizens to their homes until the sun came up in the morning. But as a late traveling car made it's way through the streets it's headlights momentarily revealed a shadow in a nearby alley, just before the figure darted out of sight.

Once the vehicle had passed, the obscured individual ran out of their hiding place to the next alleyway where they took a moment to rest under the nearby buildings overhang to find shelter from the downpour. Her clothes were soaked, her hair was a mess, and the basket in her arms was fairing no better under these conditions.

She hated this. Not just that what she was doing was awful, inhumane, and just generally one of the most despicable things she'd ever done in her life (which was saying something). But the whole thing was just so... cliche to her. The stereotypical mysterious figure dropping a basket off on a doorstep in the rain with a heavy conscience. Ugh. She couldn't resist an eye roll at the overly dramatic situation that would not be uncommon in some kind of unbearable television drama. No doubt she'd find the whole situation hilarious if she didn't hate herself so much right now, the overwhelming grief and knot in her stomach growing as she neared her destination.

Before setting off again into rain, the short woman set down the package in her arms and knelt next to it. She peeled back the cloth covering it's contents and smiled. A brief feeling of doubt crossed her mind as her resolve regarding the task she'd place before herself wavered. The woman brought her hand close to the bundle in the basket, but stopped at the last second, and she quickly re-covered what was inside.

No. No, this was for the best. For both of them. She couldn't afford to have second thoughts now.

After taking a moment to breathe and swallow the lump in her throat, the lone figure stood and picked up her package again, holding it close with both arms. She stepped up the to the edge of the shelter the overhang provided her and looked up into the dark sky, of all the days to forget her umbrella. Once again the urge to smile at the irony of the situation was overshadowed by the sadness in the woman's heart. Resigning herself to her soaking wet fate, she ran back out into the storm.

She didn't have far left to go, and a few blocks later she stopped in front of the building. She didn't bother checking the address she'd written down, this was the place, there was no mistaking it. The nearby streetlights illuminated the gold lettering on the sign sitting above the storefront.

It read; Tukson's Book Trade.

* * *

Tukson looked around him, the world seemed inky and dark, the shadows were whispering familiar things to him as his head darted from left to right trying to identify the source of the sounds.

 _Run Tukson!_

... He's lucky to be alive...

... fire killed his whole family...

... Unbreakable faunus...

... the White Fang is changing, my friend...

... No survivors, understood?...

... Good work, Tukson...

Monster.

The White Fang needs you...

Where will you go?

... No escaping what you've done.

Tukson covered his ears and shut his eyes tightly as he tried to block out the voices. When he reopened his eyes he saw the shadows in front of him take shape, becoming monsters with long claws and sharp teeth, their pairs of burning red eyes watched him hungrily. There was a sudden heaviness in his right arm and the faunus looked down and saw a large axe, it's hilt clutched in his giant hand, it's edge was coated in a bright flame. Tukson felt an overwhelming rage start building inside himself, all directed at the figures before him. The shadows moved in and Tukson started slashing at them with a roar.

He swung his burning axe over and over, cutting the attacking shadows to pieces. There were black entrails splashing onto his face, but that did nothing to stop the rampaging Tukson. A few of the creatures slashed at his torso and arms with their claws, but the wounds they created healed almost instantly as his semblance took action. He didn't even feel the pain, he just hacked away at anyone who got close.

Eventually it was over and the faunus just stood there panting. The muscles in his arms were tingling from the repeated impacts of his weapon against the flesh of the beasts. Tukson took in the carnage he'd caused. His yellow eyes went wide in horror. The shadows melted away from their bodies revealing people, human and faunus, their faces contorted in pain, fear, or shock. He recognized these faces. Friends, family members, loved ones. What had he done?

Tukson stepped back, away from the pile of body parts he'd created at his feet. He couldn't breathe. He didn't know they were-

Suddenly there was a noise behind the large faunus, Tukson spun around to face a shadow that had somehow managed to sneak up behind him. He was about to raise his weapon in defense against the smaller shadow, but at the last second he stopped. This one's eyes were different, instead of hate filled crimson, there was one pink and one brown eye staring back at him. The faunus froze in place at the sight of the layers of shadow peeling back to reveal a woman with long curly hair that's color matched her mis-matched eyes; half pink, half brown.

He knew this person. He had difficulty finding his voice when he tried to call out to her, and when he was able to form the word with his mouth, it sounded hoarse and foreign to him.

"N... Nee- Ah!"

Tukson was cut off as a blade pierced his chest, right through his heart.

The surprised faunus looked down at the wound. the needle like blade was still embedded in his body, a pair of small feminine hands holding it in place. The woman gave Tukson a blank, emotionless stare, and with a quick pull she freed her weapon from Tukson's torso, a thick glob of blood splirting out of the wound as it was ripped out.

The puma faunus feebly reached up towards the injury, covering it with his hands in a futile attempt to stop the blood that was now pouring out of him. Tukson's legs went weak and he fell onto his knees. This wasn't right. Why wasn't he healing? He always healed. No one could ever hurt him. What... what had this person done to him?

The faunus raised his head slowly, his attacker was looking down at him and now holding Tukson's axe in her own hand, seemingly unaffected by the weapons size and weight in comparison to her own. She was crying now, tears poured down her cheeks as she gave Tukson a sorrowful expression.

"I'm sorry," she choked out as she raised the axe over her head in preparation for a swing.

Tukson couldn't move... or he didn't want to. Something about the words she spoke hurt him more than any weapon ever could.

"I can't," she said as she swung the weapon down towards Tukson's neck.

* * *

The quiet interior of Tukson's Book Trade was shattered when it's owner let out a loud gasp as he shot up in his seat. The pile of papers Tukson had been resting his head on was scattered onto the floor as the bulky faunus' head darted around the room in half awake confusion. The familiar setting of his store calmed him down a bit as he realized he'd been up late working on some paperwork and must have dozed off for a bit. Tukson sighed loudly as he brought a hand to his chest to try and relax his accelerated heartbeat. A sharp sting of pain when he touched himself made him stop and realize that his brown, inch long claws were sticking out of his fingertips, he'd scratched himself, that nightmare must have really gotten to him.

Tukson took a deep breath and was able to retract the razor sharp faunus trait he'd inherited. He wondered just how long this was going to go on. He'd left the White Fang over a year ago, he'd built a new life here in Vale, he was was a small business owner now and was proud to say that Tukson's Book Trade was doing exceptionally well for a newly opened shop in the big city. But all the success in the world wouldn't rid him of the memories of the things he'd done. All the people he'd killed "for the good of his kind", as his superiors had said.

He deserved it, he supposed. The nightmares were a penance for his crimes, one that he'd never be able to repay. But this dream... it had been different.

 **She'd** been in it.

Tukson had spent the better part of the last year trying to forget that pink and brown haired woman whom had just liberated his dream selves head from his shoulders. But she was nothing if not unforgettable.

The puma faunus dragged the palm of his hand across his tired face then looked down. The collection of papers that now littered the floor certainly weren't going to get taken care of now. With a groan, Tukson bent over and started picking up the important looking documents, trying his best to organize the mess he'd made into a neat stack in his hands.

It wasn't easy starting a new life, and he never assumed it would be. As if the nightmares weren't enough, paranoia was another price the puma faunus had been paying since his departure from the Fang. Granted, no one had come after him (yet), but Tukson still felt like he constantly had to be on his guard. Whenever he left the store, or the tiny apartment he'd taken up residence in on the second floor above it, he was always on edge. Continually watching out of the corner of his eye to see if he was being followed or anything as equally ridiculous. Living such a way didn't exactly make him a lot of friends around town, but Tukson always said it was better to be lonely and paranoid than dead.

So when there was a loud knock on his stores front door at 12:21 am, it was completely rational for Tukson to immediately throw the papers he'd picked up in the air and get into a fighting stance, his claws erupting from his fingertips again.

Tukson's eyes were slits of black in a sea of gold as he watched the door waiting for the sound to dare repeat itself. But all the faunus could hear was the rain continuing to pour down outside. Tukson remained still a moment longer before he slowly stalked his way towards the entrance. The storefront windows had been darkened hours ago when he'd closed, offering him no view of whatever or whoever was outside. He pressed his ear up against the wooden door and listened, but again, all he heard was the downpour proceeding unabated.

Wrapping one of his giant hands around the door handle, the other poised and ready to lash out if need be, Tukson slowly cracked the door open. And outside he saw... nothing. Just the seemingly endless supply of water falling from the sky splashing onto the street below.

The bulky faunus furrowed his brow. A prank? Possibly. Yeah, that was probably it. Or maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him? Also possible. Tukson let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Whatever this was, he didn't really want to deal with it in the middle of the-

Then Tukson looked down at his doorstep. There, barely protected from the rain by the entryway to his shop, was a plain looking brown wicker basket with a pink blanket in it. The faunus pulled the door open the rest of the way to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

He wasn't. It was a basket. Confirmed. Well, that was one mystery solved. Next up; What on Remnant was it doing sitting on his doormat at this hour?

Then Tukson saw the folded piece of paper haphazardly scotch taped to the front of the basket, it had his name on it. Curiosity won out over suspicion in the end and the tired puma faunus reached down and plucked the paper off the basket. It was a note, in his still half asleep state, Tukson skimmed it briefly. His eyes went wide at a few of the key words he picked up.

 _sorry._

 _forgive._

and by far the most jarring; _daughter._

But it was the signature at the bottom of the note that made the puma faunus' eyes almost bulge out of his head in shock. He quickly stuffed the paper in his pants pocket and leapt over the basket into the pouring rain. Tukson looked up and down the street for any signs of life, any signs that **she** was still here. But again, he saw nothing, and he knew that if she didn't want to be found, he would never be able to even if he tried. A familiar agonizing feeling of grief tugged at the faunus' heart. He'd lost her again. It wasn't any less painful the second time.

Tukson turned to go back inside dejectedly, then he saw the basket again and his now wide awake mind caught up with the situation. He sprinted back over to the inconspicuous container and knelt down to inspect it. He slowly inched his hand towards the blanket covering whatever was inside. Was there really a...

Tukson tentatively peeled back the cloth and there it- she was.

Tucked under another blanket up to her chin was a baby, sleeping and breathing softly through her slightly open mouth. On the top of her tiny head was a small tuft of half black, half white hair done up with a pink bow. Then there was the pair of adorable cat ears on each side of her head matching her hair color. She was a faunus, clearly, like him. But was she really his-

Tukson starred dumbfounded at the child, wondering just what the hell was going on. He half expected to wake up at his desk again any second now, the whole thing felt surreal to him. Then he remembered the note. Tukson quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out the now slightly damp paper and began to read it.

 _Tukson,_

 _It's been a long time, I know._

 _I'm sorry things had to end the way they did last time we met, and I don't expect you to ever forgive me for the choices I've made. But that's not why I'm writing this._

 _This our daughter; Oreonna._

 _I was as surprised as you are. I guess one of those magical nights we shared are to thank for this little gift. I want to be clear, I have no regrets. I love this child more than I ever thought possible, and I always will. I wouldn't trade these last months since she's been born for anything. But I can't be her mother anymore._

 _It's complicated, and I don't have nearly enough time to get into it, but just trust me when I say she's better off without me. You can add that the the list of ways I've disappointed the people I love._

 _So I have to ask you to take care of her now, there's no one else I can turn to and I refuse to put in the same broken system I was raised in at an orphanage. Oreonna deserves to be loved, and I know you are a wellspring of it._

 _I'm aware I'm asking too much of you, to put your own life on hold to raise a child you never knew about. But please give her the family she needs._

 _Please be the parent I never could._

 _Love, Always,_  
 _Neopolitan_

 _P.S.- I left a locket with Oreonna. When she's older I'd like her to have it, to remember me, be it for better or worse._

Tukson read and reread the letter, could this possibly be real? Trying his best not to disturb his still sleeping... daughter? (It felt strange to refer to her that way), the distressed faunus lifted the blanket covering the baby and sure enough, a small golden locket strung on a small bit of string was coiled up on her chest.

He carefully picked up the trinket, causing Oreonna to stir slightly but show no signs of waking up. Tukson grasped the small necklace in his massive hands and pressed the tiny latch on the side causing the locket to open. What he saw inside made his jaw drop.

This was real.

He slid the locket into his back pocket and when Tukson looked down he found a pair of rosy pink eyes staring up at him.

The two of them froze in place as they seemed to be appraising one another. The smaller faunus cocked her head to one side causing Tukson to mimic the action.

Those eyes... Tukson had seen eyes like that in only one other person.

Granted they were usually shifting color quickly. But their were few moments, when Neo was truly relaxed, at ease, when she felt safe, that those often mismatched eyes both turned to their natural pink. A very similar shade of irises was staring up at Tukson right now.

This. Was real. He repeated to himself.

The evidence was piling up and it was becoming harder and harder to be in denial of the fact; He was a father.

The two continued their silent observation of each other as Tukson panicked. What was he going to do? He didn't know how to be a dad! He'd never even taken care of a house plant before! Never mind a person!

Well... then again... he'd always liked kids. The White Fang often had way too many parent-less faunus children running around, not unlike he had been when he'd first joined up. No one had ever really assigned him to look after them, but he just felt like he had to. He'd read to them a lot, like Tukson's mom had to him, and he even brought back clothes and toys for them when he wasn't on jobs. He was "Uncle Tukson" to more than a few faunus rugrats in the Fang. He hadn't thought about those days in a while. It's funny how the bad side of his work with the once peaceful organization often overshadowed the good.

But this was different. This was a life that was being put entirely under his care. All of this was happening way to fast for the puma faunus to deal with.

Meanwhile, Oreonna just sat there looking up at the giant man having a mental breakdown above her with a curious expression.

Not knowing what else to do, Tukson picked up the basket and baby all at once to at least get them inside where they would stay dry. He brought the infant up to his eye level and got a good up close look at his daughters tiny... everything. Her face, her nose, her ears (both sets). She just looked so... fragile, and that scared Tukson more than anything. How could he protect something so small and innocent?

Just then, the tiny kitten faunus blew a raspberry right in Tukson's face, and afterward looked pretty damn pleased with herself about it.

The burly faunus was at a loss for words at that, but then his lips started curving upwards and he let out a small chuckle. Then Oreonna laughed too.

Tukson thought it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

The tiny faunus reached out with her stubby fingers towards Tukson and let out a babble of unintelligible baby talk. Tukson laughed again, louder this time, as he turned to bring the child inside. He didn't really know what the hell he was going to do, but those questions could wait until morning at least.

That's what it would take, he decided. Taking things one day at a time.

Using his foot, Tukson shut the door behind him. Not noticing the figure standing in the middle of the street watching him as the rain poured down unrelentingly.

The short woman smiled sadly, her semblance had kept her hidden when Tukson had come out into the road looking for her. She'd actually only been a few feet away from her old flame at one point. He looked good, maybe a little tired, but it was... nice seeing him again.

Neo had decided earlier that if she stayed to watch, it'd only make it harder to leave. But she had to be sure, she couldn't risk not knowing, she had to see if this was going to work out. And after what she'd just witnessed, her mind was slightly more at ease. Tukson had lived up to her expectations completely and Neo knew he'd take care of their daughter.

Still, despite the pouring rain, Neo couldn't resist reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes. This was for the best, she reminded herself. Oreonna would be happy here, she'd be loved, and that's all the pink and brown haired woman wanted for her.

"Goodbye, Oreonna..." she whispered to herself. Then with a shimmer of light around her, Neo disappeared, leaving the streets empty once again.

* * *

(16 years later)

A pair of black boots tiptoed across the cobblestone beneath them, their owner taking slow quiet steps as to not give away her position. She wore a long black dress with a white strip going down the middle, a pair of gray straps holding it up over her bare shoulders. Her short sleeves were wide at the ends and the rest of her arms were covered with long white gloves. On the back of her outfit- near the bottom, was a small hole through which a long, black, cat tail stuck out. On her legs she wore a pair of black leggings with a grey fishnet pattern on them, interrupted by the rugged boots she wore that went up to just below her knees. Her long hair was swept back over her shoulders, white on one side and black on the other, the darker half being held up just above her left eye with a golden hair clip with three musical notes of it. On the top of her head on each side a cat ear of matching color was sticking out, the one sticking out of the black half of her hair had a small chip missing from the tip of the ear. The cat tailed girl crouched low to the ground, her extra set of ears twitching as they listened for any sounds that might give away her enemies position as her sharp pink eyes scanned the darkness around her.

She'd come prepared for this fight. On her right arm was an hourglass shaped shield with razor sharp edges. However, it wasn't just a shield, it also resembled a violin, with four tightly wound strings running from the top of the weapon to the bottom. At one end of the strings was what would be referred to as the scroll of the instrument, with four multi colored tuning pegs sticking out of it's sides. In the girls other hand was a long sword that was sharp on one side and the other had a long string making the weapon serve as the bow for her shield's violin.

Suddenly the cat ears on the young faunus girls head shot up as a sharp set of claws swung out at her. The cat girl sprung to her left to dodge, bringing her shield up as she faced her enemy. The Beowolf stepped out from the shadows, licking it's teeth hungrily as it watched it's prey with a glowing pair of blood red eyes.

The black and white haired faunus spun her sword in her hand and brought her shield to her chin, bringing her bow to the strings of her weapon, then she started to play. An orange glow surrounded her blade's edge as the melody went on, the song was passionate and longing like the flames that were growing on her sword. The Beowolf lowered it's ears in response to the strange music before pouncing towards the faunus with it's sharp claws fully extended. The cat eared girl responded with one quick slash, her elementally enhanced weapon splitting the beast clean in half at the stomach.

There was a bright flash of fire at the impact which reveled several other Grimm waiting in the darkness, all snarling in anger at the young girl before them. The faunus turned to face the monsters with an excited smile on her face as she ran headlong towards them. Another Beowolf lashed out and had it's arm lobbed off for it's trouble before it's head joined it shortly thereafter. A small Ursa stood up on it's hind legs as it lumbered forward swinging it's massive claws. But the cat eared girl merely leaned just out of reach before slamming her shield into the monsters exposed stomach making it bend forward allowing the her to stab upwards through it's jaw. As the tip of her blade poked out of the skull mask on top of the bear monsters head it's whole body went limp. The violinist pulled her weapon free before leaping out of the way of another Grimm's slow attack, leaving the Ursa's corpse to disintegrate on the floor. However, unlike most Grimm, who fall away to inky, black smoke, these Grimm melted away into the ground in sparks of light as the floor seemed to absorb them.

It was a hologram, as all of the Grimm surrounding the cat girl were. All of them part of a highly advanced training program meant to test aspiring young huntsmen and huntresses in their final exam at Signal Academy.

While the cat faunus fought off the digital representations of monsters, a group of teachers were monitoring this exam from behind a one way mirror in a dark room. On a monitor in front of the group nearest the glass there was a picture of the girl that was undergoing the test along with a list of her academic merits and grades. The name; Oreonna Delsole was displayed under her portrait.

"Miss Delsole seems to be doing quite well thus far," one of the teachers observing said.

"No surprise really. She's one of the highest ranked students here. I expect she'll make short work of this exam and pass with flying colors no doubt," another added.

Meanwhile in the back of the observation room another instructor leaned back in his wooden chair. His dark grey hair was slicked back with a bit hanging down over his face and a small patch of stubble covering his chin. A tattered red cape hung over the back of his chair, and a sideways cross necklace hung around his neck. He rolled his red eyes as his fellow instructors continued chatting and praising this girl just for killing a few Beowolf pups. If they really wanted to make sure she was ready, they'd have to throw something a bit more... exciting her way. Luckily, he'd made a little adjustment to their training program this morning in preparation for today. He smiled to himself as he took a sip from the flask he always carried with him.

By now, Oreonna was moping up the last of the Grimm. The handful of remaining Beowolves all threw themselves at the cat girl in one last desperate attack. These holograms may not have been real Grimm, but they were programmed to be just as bloodthirsty and relentless, as well as being able to still do damage if there attacks hit. The technology created to make this kind of training possible was state of the art, a gift from Atlas Academy on the day when Signal had first been opened. It was seen as act of good faith since the days of the Great War to show that all of the schools of the world of Remnant were on the same side, no matter how big or small. These Grimm were just as savage as the real thing, but the simulation was programmed to shut down automatically in the event of the students aura dropping into the red from taking to much damage.

Still despite the danger she faced, Oreonna kept a calm expression, and as the beasts descended upon her she waited until the last possible second before she activated her semblance.

There was a blinding white flash and the group of Beowolves recoiled back at the sight. Then, where there had once been one Oreonna, now stood two. A mirror image in almost every regard, almost. The only differences being the one on the left having all black hair and the one on the right having pure white. Also, each of the "twins" had one pink eye, and one pale white one, making the two resemble a mirror image of each other even more so. Once Oreonna had split up, she also split up her weapons, so the white haired cat girl wielded her violin shield, and the black haired one held her bow sword in front of her with two hands. Lastly, Oreonna's faunus traits, her tail and ears, were split up among her black haired and white haired halves respectively.

Their numbers now doubled, the split faunus' charged forward. The darker version was yelling out with each strike while the lighter one nimbly intercepted the Grimm's blows with her shield keeping stoic and silent throughout the whole encounter. The Beolwoves stood no chance against the odds they now faced and soon the remaining Grimm flopped to the ground lifelessly.

The two Oreonna's glanced over at each other and gave a simultaneous nod. They moved to recombine themselves back into one, but suddenly there was the sound of heavy footsteps rushing up from behind them. The two cat girls looked back in shock as massive gorilla Grimm bounded towards the two.

"A Beringrel!?" That's not a part of the exam!" the teachers watching shouted as they were flabbergasted as to how such a high threat level Grimm had appeared in the simulation. Before they could begin to wonder how though, the man in the back of the room coughed loudly as if trying to get the groups attention.

"Professor Branwen? Are you responsible for this? These students are not ready for this level of combat!" one of the teachers asked indignantly.

The caped huntsman shrugged lazily as he hobbled up to his feet, he seemed a little unsteady at first as he struggled to regain his balance. But after a quick swig from his flask, a sharpness returned to his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we were supposed to be training hunters here, not running a kindergarten," he said sarcastically. "The real worlds gonna throw things as that kid that're at least twice as scary as that big monkey down there, and you've got her fighting freshly brewed Beolwolves?" the professor gestured to the training grounds behind the group as he spoke. "What's next? Throw a few Grimm butterflies at her?"

"This is no time for jokes, Qrow,"

"Who's joking? You ever seen those flying bastards before? Actually pretty damn scary if you ask me," Qrow grinned at the aggravated expressions he was receiving as he took another sip.

"You haven't shown up for work in weeks, and when you decide to show your face at graduation day you have the gall to question our teaching methods?" a female teacher on one side of the room said, narrowing here eyes at the most likely inebriated huntsmen.

Qrow smirked back at her as he stepped close. "First of all, if half of the kids that graduated from here were tossed out into the wild they wouldn't last two minutes. That, is my critique on your "methods."

"How dare-"

"Secondly," Qrow interrupted, his face suddenly much more serious. "I'm not exactly on vacation when I'm gone. I'm off risking my life so you can all sit here in classrooms training kids like her to do the same thing someday. So excuse me if I want to make sure they're ready."

The entire room was silent as no one really had a counter point to that. It was no secret that Qrow was far from the most poplar of the teachers at Signal, at least among the staff. But he still gained a great deal of respect from his fellow huntsmen over the years for his accomplishments, not to mention the years of experience under his belt at the academy. Even the group before him had to begrudgingly acknowledge his skills, which was one of the only reasons he remained (barely) employed at the school.

Qrow looked over the groups shoulders and grinned. "Beside, I think she's doin' okay, all things considered."

The faculty members all seemed to remember at the same time that they were supposed to be monitoring an exam right now and spun around to continue observing.

"We will discuss this later, Qrow. Be certain of that," one said over their shoulder towards the caped huntsman.

"Looking forward to it," The dark haired man replied, taking his seat in the back of the room as he leaned back to enjoy the show.

"Give em hell, kid."

Meanwhile, down in the simulation area, the two Oreonna's hopped around dodging the Beringrel's giant fists as it continued it's assault on the faunus. After dodging a particularly savage punch, the sword wielding Oreonna jumped onto the others shield and her counterpart launched her towards the Grimm. The black haired half of the girl soared over the monster just barely out of it's reach and delivered a slash to it's back making the Beringrel stumble forward. The other Oreonna was ready and slammed her shield into the Grimm's chest causing the already off balance monsters to fall back towards the other Oreonna. The darker haired cat girl smiled maliciously and delivered a rising slash as she jumped then stabbed her blade into the beasts shoulder. Using her newfound grip, the faunus leapt up to her perch and prepared to decapitate the Grimm. But was stopped when one of the monsters giant hands grabbed her around the midsection, giving the smaller girls body a tight squeeze.

The sword wielding Oreonna let out a gasp of pain and on the floor in front of the Beringrel the shield wielding version of her fell to her knee in pain. Her semblance allowed Oreonna to split into two copies of herself to double her damage output and confuse opponents, but she was still just one person with one soul. That meant that in addition to sharing aura, the two copies also still technically shared the same body, so when one felt pain so did the other.

The Beringrel held the cat girl above it's head in triumph for a moment before swinging the faunus like a club and throwing her at the white haired Oreonna before it. The two halves collided and with another flash, recombined into one as the original Oreonna tumbled across the floor coming to a stop near the wall. The black and white haired faunus struggled up to her feet using her sword to support herself. The Beringrel huffed proudly as it beat on it's chest and slammed it's large knuckles into the floor, almost as though it was celebrating it's victory.

Oreonna glared at the Grimm's display of power as she stood to her full (though, not all that impressive) height. The faunus brought her shield up to her chin again, placed the bow side of her sword on the strings, closed her eyes and played. The song she chose was the same as earlier, but the way she played it now was different. The melody was faster and there was a greater ferocity than before.

The Beringrel however wasn't about to just stand around to wait for the violinist to finish playing and with a ferocious roar, charged towards Oreonna. The cat girls eyes remained closed and she didn't even budge as she continued playing. The Grimm swung it's huge fist towards her and just before it made contact, Oreonna's cat ears twitched.

The Beringrel's fist slammed into, and then through, the wall, but when the dust settled the Grimm saw Oreonna had hopped up and was now standing on top of it's arm which was now embedded in the wall. The cat girl still hadn't opened her eyes as she gave an amused smirk and kept playing as she stood confidently on the trapped appendage. The Grimm roared in frustration as it tried to crush the petite faunus with it's free hand. But again, Oreonna's cat ears twitched just before impact and she leapt up and over the massive gorilla landing behind it.

Tearing it's fist out of the wall, as well as a large chunk of the wall itself, the Beringrel swung again with similar results. The Creature of Grimm had no way of knowing it, but this fight was already over. Oreonna's focus was unbreakable at this point as she continued to play while seemingly effortlessly dodging everything the monster threw at her. The form and grace with which she moved was a result of years of training in not just combat, but also preforming music. The Grimm's continued frenzy of attacks would get it nowhere at this point. When the monster raised both it's arms in an attempt to crush the cat faunus, Oreonna rushed towards it, sliding on her knees between the Grimm's legs as it uselessly pounded the ground.

Once she got back to her feet, she stopped playing and looked backwards over her shoulder at the Grimm and smiled. The Beringrel spun around, frustration overtaking it as it slammed it's fists against the cobblestone again before charging the cat faunus. Oreonna pointed the tip of her bow sword at a spot on the ground a few yards ahead of the rampaging monster. The spot began to glow red and once the Grimm stepped on it the black and white haired girl flicked her weapon upwards.

A massive column of flames erupted from floor illuminating the entire chamber and overtaking the Beringrel completely. The beast let out a brief yell of pain before the sounds of the inferno drowned it out. With another wave of her hand the fire dissipated revealing the burnt husk that had once been the Grimm.

The remains of the Beringrel fell forward onto the floor and it's body fell apart into ash before it disappeared like the others. Oreonna stood triumphantly over her fallen foe as the lights of the arena turned back on signifying the exam was over. The cat girl let out a quiet sigh of exhaustion and exasperation.

"Okay, easy parts over," she said to herself as she looked up towards the one way mirror where Oreonna knew her instructors were watching her. She really wasn't looking forward to what was coming next.

* * *

Oreonna fidgeted nervously in her seat in the large office, the group of teachers that had been observing her sat at the long, semi-circle shaped desk in front of her. It was time for the second part of the faunus students exam; her evaluation. The cat girls fate was now in the hands of her peers.

The short faunus felt incredibly anxious with all the eyes on her. The teachers were murmuring to each other, watching the recording of Oreonna's physical examination on their scrolls as they discussed her performance. She really hated being the center of attention. Granted she knew the group of instructors had been observing her earlier while she'd fought, but at least then she could appreciate having the distraction of fighting for her life. Now however, the cat faunus was keenly aware of every scrutinizing look she was receiving. Oreonna stared down at her feet for the most part, but every once and a while she'd build the courage to look up but then immediately turn her head away when she made eye contact with one of her teachers.

God, she was a mess. The cat girl fiddled with her hands in her lap and started smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress as she waited. Her tail twitched nervously behind her as it stuck out the back of the chair she was sitting in. The minutes seemed to drag on and on as the teachers continued their quiet discussion across the room, all except for Professor Branwen, who kept his red eyes locked onto the faunus girl as he sat there in silence. Oreonna did her best to ignore him, but she was really wishing he'd look anywhere else right now. Give her an army of bloodthirsty monsters to fight any day over sitting in a room full of people focused solely on her.

"Well, Miss Delsole-"

Oreonna practically jumped out of her skin at the sound of Signal's headmaster's voice.

"-You did quite well on your examination my dear."

"Thank you, sir," the cat faunus said with a slight bow of her head.

The headmaster smiled and continued. "And your academic records speak for themselves, I must say."

Oreonna had always been a bit of a bookworm, one of the perks of being the daughter of a bookstore owner she supposed. She'd practically lived in that store all her life which meant she had plenty of time to develop a taste for literature. And thanks to that, she'd also developed quite a studious nature and never really struggled academically. Training her mind was just as important as training her body in Oreonna's quest to become a huntress, and it was nice to hear that her efforts had been noticed and appreciated.

"With this in mind I think I can speak for all of us here when I say, congrat-"

"Not so fast there, cotton top," Qrow suddenly interjected interrupting the white haired headmaster.

The elderly man gave the huntsman a distasteful look. "Do you have something you'd like to add to the proceedings, Mr. Branwen?"

Qrow stood from his seat and started dragging his chair across the floor towards the confused Oreonna, an uncomfortable scratching accompanying it as he slid the metal furniture on the linoleum. The other occupants in the room winced at the sound, especially the faunus girl he was approaching, her second set of ears only magnifying the sound in her head.

"She needs to get approval from all teachers in attendance before we pass her, right?" The caped man stopped his chair right in front of Oreonna who looked up at him feeling more than a little intimidated. "Well I got a question or two for her before she gets my vote."

Qrow sat in his chair and leaned back crossing his arms as he stared a hole through the student in front of him. If Oreonna had thought she'd been nervous before, she was pretty sure that now her heart was about to explode out of her chest with how fast it was beating.

Professor Branwen (or just Qrow, as he preferred to be called by everyone) had been one of her instructors for all four of her years at Signal. Well, he was when he decided to show up anyway, as Qrow had a pretty spotty attendance record to say the least. More often than not it was Professor Xiao Long that was there to cover for him, even though the two of them didn't seem to get along too well. But when Qrow did show up, he was easily one of Oreonna's favorite instructors. He was funny (in a morbid sort of way, which only made Oreonna like him more), he never passed up the chance to help out a struggling student, and best of all- he wasn't afraid to push his pupils a little harder to help them reach there potential. Oreonna had a sneaking suspicion that the Beringrel she'd encountered at the end of her physical exam might have been his doing. But she loved testing herself against tougher foes, to push herself to the limit in a fight. Plus, she didn't die, so what reason did she have to hold a grudge?

But in all the time she'd known him, Oreonna had never seen Qrow give her a look like he was right now. Deadly serious was the only way she could think of to describe it.

"Oreonna?" Qrow finally said.

"Y-yes?" the cat faunus inwardly cursed her habitual nervous stutter and immediately straightened her posture in an attempt to save face. "Yes, sir?"

Qrow studied his student for another quick moment. "Why are you here?"

Oreonna was caught of guard by such a blunt question and when she couldn't come up with an adequate response right away she just went with the first one that came to mind; "What?"

Qrow let out a sigh as he leaned forward resting his elbows on his thighs. He absentmindedly rubbed one of the rings on his fingers. "Way I see it, a kid like you is lucky enough to have options in life," he said.

Oreonna titled her head slightly, wondering where her teacher was going with this.

"I know for a fact your weapon being part violin isn't just for show. You've been playing since you were a kid, had more recitals than you can probably count on both hands. And I'd be willing bet you've had more than a few scouts from music programs checking you out over the years."

That was true. Oreonna had spent years of her life playing the violin, she couldn't really recall a time she hadn't been. She'd started taking lessons when she was really young, and continued playing very seriously into her teenage years. She'd had more than a few professional scouts come to her performances, offering her the chance to take her musical skills to the next level. Many people in her life had done there best to encourage her to take that chance. It was a promising career choice, but it wasn't what Oreonna wanted. She loved the violin...

But it wasn't being a huntress. So the best she could do was find a way to incorporate her love for music into her dream.

"And we all know your old man runs a small bookstore downtown all by himself, and I've seen you helping out there more than once. Seems only natural since he raised you all by his lonesome that he'd want to pass all that on to you someday."

Oreonna couldn't help but feel a small jab of pain at her teachers remarks. She was always pretty sensitive when it came to her father and her home life. So she liked to help out her dad every now and again, what was wrong with that? The man worked hard just so Oreonna could attend Signal Academy in the first place. He barely slept, worked 12 hour days, six days a week, the man was a workhorse. Covering the counter and helping out customers when she could was the least Oreonna could do to pay him back. More to the point, the cat girl wondered just what part of this was any of Qrow's business, the faunus felt a twinge of irritation building in the back of her mind at her instructors line of questioning. Oreonna might be usually timid in most social situations, but when it came to her family, the shy, awkward faunus found an overprotective side of herself that rarely showed it's face. She might even go so far as to say she had a bit of a temper on the subject.

"So, keeping all of that in mind, I'll ask again; Why are you here? Why choose to risk your life as a huntress?"

The black and white haired faunus gave Qrow a lost look. She... didn't really know how to answer that. How do you describe an overwhelming urge that burned inside you? A feeling that anything else you could ever do in life would pale in comparison to this one amazing thing? She just couldn't put in into words, especially under this kind of pressure.

But she had to say something. "I don't-"

"Is it all for a thrill?" Qrow interrupted as he suddenly stood up straight. "What, those other jobs just aren't exciting enough for you?" The huntsman gave Oreonna a discriminating look, a look just as intense as this line of questioning was becoming.

The cat faunus' ears went flat against her head as her anger was getting more difficult to hide and suppress. "N-no, that's not-"

"Let me ask you this then," the huntsman interrupted again, his voice getting louder and louder. "if you're willing to give up so easily on those lines of work, why should we think you won't just give up on this one?" Her professor bent forward and got real close to the now seething cat girl in front of him. "So, WHY. ARE. YOU. HERE."

"I'm here because being a huntress is all I've ever wanted to be! And if that's not enough for you then you can shove it up your ass!"

Oreonna's mind finally caught up to the words that were exploding out of her mouth and instantaneously a feeling of mortification washed over her. She'd just screamed at a teacher. Not only that, she'd just swore at one, or at least what her youthful, and often naive mind considered a swear.

Just like that the quiet, timid side of Oreonna stepped back in control and had no idea what had come over her. She'd always just been shy, nerdy, perfect student, Oreonna. Always getting good grades, never getting into trouble, exhibiting model student behavior at all times. But now as she dwell on the potential consequences of her actions she looked over at the other teachers in the room who'd been there for the duration of her "conversation" with the old huntsman. They looked just as flabbergasted by her behavior as Oreonna was. The cat faunus felt like her face was heating up so much she was convinced it was about to melt off as she took in the looks of surprise and maybe a little disappointment from all of her peers.

Well, all except for Professor Branwen who had possibly the biggest smile Oreonna had ever seen on his face right now.

The old huntsman laughed and slapped his knee. "Alright," he said. "Good answer." Qrow stood and walked back over to the group of teachers. "Okay, she's good with me."

Oreonna just sat there with the look on her face stuck between confusion and embarrassment as she tried to process what had just happened. Wasn't she in trouble? "Wait. I'm... good?" she asked. "Does that mean-?"

"It appears so," The headmaster said giving a sideways glance at Qrow before smiling warmly at Oreonna. "Congratulations, my dear. You've just graduated from Signal Academy."

Excitement shot through the cat faunus' system and finally bubbled over as she leapt up from her chair and pumped both her arms in the air letting out a "YES!"

Then she noticed the faculty still staring at her.

Oreonna cleared her throat awkwardly the offered a slight bow of her head in respect. "Thank you very much. Please excuse me," she said professionally. With that, the black and white haired girl quietly left the room, shutting the door behind her.

But once she was safely out of sight, the faunus girl immediately broke into a victory dance there in the hallway. Well, it would be more accurately described as a bunch of awkward flailing that could be vaguely interpreted as a sign of happiness... or perhaps a dangerous lack of mental health. But who cares? She'd done it! She'd graduated! She'd awkward dance all damn night if she wanted!

This went on for a bit until Oreonna noticed the door behind her hadn't closed all the way and thanks to some un-oiled hinges, had swung back open. The cat girl was frozen halfway through a particularly extravagant dance move and stared wide eyed at the group of teachers watching her. Neither side of the situation seemed to want to say anything about this, so Oreonna took the initiative to slowly step out of the groups view.

 _OKAY! Pretending that didn't happen._ Oreonna thought to herself as she walked the halls of Signal for most likely the last time. She was practically skipping from excitement, her tail swinging freely behind her, she felt like the smile she was wearing would never fade.

She'd passed! I mean, not that she'd been nervous or anything. Oreonna rolled her eyes as she downright lied to herself. Okay, maybe she had been a little once Professor Branwen had gotten all aggressive with her. She still wondered just what that had been about, but it had all worked out in the end so the chipper faunus chose not to dwell on it.

Oreonna was giddy with excitement now, her four long years at Signal were done. Next stop, Beacon Academy!

 _... someday..._

Oreonna's smile faded for a half second as she remembered her complicated financial situation...

 _No. No feeling bad. You'll get there eventually._ She said to herself.

Pushing the bad thoughts aside, Oreonna stood at the exit of Signal Academy. As she placed a hand on the pair of large wooden door handles she looked back briefly with nostalgia. This place had been great to her over the last four years. She'd miss the teachers, her friends, not so much the homework. But still, Signal had been her world for what felt like a long time. But now it was time for her to move forward.

With that last bit of reverence, Oreonna pushed the exit doors open. But then she had a thought; Her dad was most likely waiting outside right now, the man had been a nervous wreck this morning, maybe even more so than Oreonna herself. He was probably standing outside propped up against a wall watching the exit like a hawk. His paternal instincts were strong... but maybe too much so. It was endearing, but at the same time she felt that he went a little overboard with it. The cat girls smile turned slightly wicked as Oreonna decided to mess with her sometimes overprotective father... y'know... just a little.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **A/N-** _Okay, first off. Bravo to everyone that's stuck with this thus far. This is a loooooong chapter. A lot to take in all at once, I know. You are my hero. They won't all be this long, I promise. This is my first story ever and I guess I got carried away. Feel free to tear me apart in the reviews. We both know it's the only way I'll learn._

 _Now then, I suppose you also might have some questions/concerns. Rightfully so. So I guess I'm here to address all the fears that haqve haunted me on a nightly bases when it came to submitting this to the masses._

 _So yeah. NeoxTukson. That's where we're going with this. Ship name- Literal Sundae. Of which I am the captain and first mate. I don't know how it came to this, their are plenty of people to blame. I am one of them._

 _REGARDLESS! I guess you could call this an AU in that sense. But they way I see it, we don't know Neo's actual age and with her semblance's ability to change her outfit/appearance, I like to assume she's able to hide her true age. So yeah, Neo was/is a consenting adult here. So no creepiness there._

 _Second. Yeah, Oreonna has cat ears AND a tail, but please lower your pitch forks and other mob related weapons. I designed her before that particular rule came to be, and rather than change/mutilate my adorable cookie cat, I chose to just ignore it. Apparently that wasn't good enough for a lot of people. My mistake. So now when she uses her semblance to split up, she also splits up her faunus traits for mysterious reasons that I have now shoehorned into the plot._

 _Good enough? No? I'm okay with that._

 _Well if I haven't lost you yet, let just say that thanks so much for even clicking on this story. I have the first several chapters ready, they just need a little light editing so hopefully I'll be able to update it reasonably quickly. So yeah, if I have you interested, stick around. I had a lot of fun writing this and hopefully you enjoyed it. If this goes good I'll upload more soon!_


	2. Schools Out

**Chapter Two- School's Out**

Tukson stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall of an old brick building. Springtime was in full swing in Vale. Trees coming back to life, the lush city seemed even greener than usual. A few people wandered the streets nearby, and the occasional car passed him in the streets, but Tukson wasn't interested in the scenery today. The middle-aged faunus' yellow eyes were glued to the giant wooden double doors of the structure across the street from him, the bronzed lettering above which spelled out _"Signal Academy"_. He had been engaged in an intense staring contest with the entrance for so long he had practically memorized every nook and splinter of the heavy oak it was comprised of. Tukson received more than a few odd looks from passerby since he'd first settled into the spot with a grim expression. He chose to ignore them.

Finally relenting, Tukson closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He began shifting his back against the masonry supporting him, trying in vain to find a comfortable position. It was time to be honest with himself. He was nervous.

 _There's nothing to worry about. She'll do fine. I'm overreacting,_ the side-burned faunus thought to himself. It was a big day though, that was for certain. This was the day when fourth year students at Signal underwent their final evaluation. A grueling physical and mental exam putting everything they'd learned in their time at the combat school to test. The results would ultimately decide whether or not the student would graduate from the prestigious academy, therefore bringing them one step closer to their goal of becoming an official huntsman or huntress. Of course, Tukson was far too old to attend the academy. No, it wasn't his future that was going to be decided today, it was-

Tukson's head shot up when he heard the sound of the doors creaking open. Immediately, he recognized the telltale monochrome hair -complete with cat ears- of his daughter, Oreonna. He smiled before carefully crossing the street to greet her, but as he got closer, he began to better notice her features. Her feline tail, usually swinging freely behind her, was still and low. Her cat ears drooped down on top of her head, and her face was contorted into a deep frown. The two briefly made eye contact, Oreonna's pink eyes locking with Tukson's golden ones, before Oreonna's gaze snapped to the ground.

 _Oh... Oh no..._

Tukson suddenly felt all the anxiety he had been battling for the last few hours begin to overtake him. He was at a loss, really. He knew Oreonna had wanted this so badly, to see her like this was too much for the faunas father, so immediately he pushed his grief aside and let his parental instincts take over as he moved in to console his daughter.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, Oreonna still refusing to look up at him as he spoke, "Oreo, it's okay. We'll... figure something out. Maybe you could-" Oreonna made a noise interrupting Tukson. It sounded like a... snort? Confused, Tukson bent forward to get a better look at his daughter's face. Her frown was gone, replaced by a wide grin, just barely exposing her sharp canines.

"Uhh... what?" said Tukson, desperately trying to understand the situation. Oreonna's head rose, a mischievous glint in her eyes, and an enormous smile plastered across her face as she tried in vain to hold back laughter. "...Wait... so..." slowly Tukson was trying to piece together his daughters behavior. Then his eye's lit up, finally putting two and two together. "Wait, so you-"

"Of course!" Oreonna interrupted, Unable to contain her excitement any longer. Tukson swept up his daughter in his arms and let out a deep laugh.

"Are you trying to give your old man a heart attack? What was that about?" Tukson asked as he began to spin around, holding his daughter in the air. Oreonna giggled as her father finally stopped.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself. I saw how much of a mess you were this morning, and don't even pretend that you weren't standing over there practically stalking the exit waiting for me," Oreonna gestured over her shoulder to... pretty much the exact spot Tukson had been staking out the academy a few minutes ago. "You were probably getting yourself all worked up over me, like usual. How could I resist messing with you just a little?" Oreonna punctuated her sentence with her most innocent smile. Tukson smiled back, he didn't stand a chance when Oreonna looked at him that way. He had to admit, his daughter knew him well.

"So? Don't keep me in suspense. How'd it go?" Tukson asked. With that, Oreonna went into an excitable rant about her exam. Honestly, Tukson had a hard time keeping up, especially when she started trying to explain the digital constructs of Grimm she had to battle. Unlike his daughter, Tukson wasn't the best when it came to all this technology stuff, but he just smiled and nodded politely, happy to see his daughter so thrilled. Was he upset at her for the emotional trauma she had put him through with her prank? Maybe a little, but his daughter had always had a mischievous side.

 _Just like her mother._ Tukson thought, perhaps a bit more bitterly than he wanted. He didn't particularly have a grudge against Neo, even if she had surprised him with an eight month old baby on his doorstep all those years ago, thoroughly throwing his life into chaos. Don't get him wrong, Oreonna was one of the best things that had ever happened to him, and he wouldn't trade her for anything in the world, but he missed Neo.

Their time together was far too brief for his taste. Not a day went by that he didn't look at Oreonna and think of her and wonder where she was now. Ultimately, he just hoped she was happy, wherever she was, and whatever she was doing, he hoped it was worth leaving her daughter. Ugh. He really wasn't bitter, but it was hard not to be sometimes.

"Dad? Remnant to dad? You okay?" Oreonna's questioning snapped Tukson back to reality.

"Hm? Sorry, Oreo. Got a little lost there for a moment. You were saying?"

Oreonna gave her father a skeptical glance at his response, but continued regardless. Going into detail about Professor Branwen and his "questioning" after the exam was over, as well as about Oreonna's little outburst at him. The cat girl was clearly still embarrassed about it.

Tukson and Qrow had only spoken a few times while Oreonna was attending Signal. Honestly, Tukson had a hard time getting a read on the man. He seemed aloof and indifferent, and the teachers drinking habits didn't exactly earn him any points in the faunus' favor, but at the same time, Qrow was one of the academies most prestigious instructors, and a renowned huntsman in his own right. Then there was that look he had in his eyes. They were the eyes of a man who carried a heavy burden. Qrow had secrets and demons that weighed heavily on him. Tukson couldn't help but sympathize. He knew that look all too well. He'd seen it more than once staring back at him from the mirror, but that had nothing to do with today.

This was his daughter's day, and he wasn't about to let the past ruin it. "Welp, I have the bookstore closed up for another half hour. How about a little celebration?" Oreonna's ears perked up at her fathers suggestion. Tukson continued, "You know, that sushi place down the street sounds great right about now. Whaddya say, Oreo?" Oreonna's eyes practically sparkled at the invitation, her mind already lost to a world of deliciousness, visions of the dish dancing in her head. She was so entranced by the idea, she failed to notice the bright yellow figure sneaking up behind her.

However, the incredibly un-stealthy interloper was directly in Tukson's eyesight. He raised an eyebrow at the familiar girl behind Oreonna. The blonde responded by bringing her index finger to her lips, and with a wink of her lavender eyes, she posed to strike. Tukson opened his mouth in an attempt to warn his daughter, but at the last second he stopped. _She's not the only one with a mischievous side,_ thought Tukson with a sly smile. Suddenly, the blonde lunged forward arms extended, wrapping Oreonna in a big bear hug.

"Helllloooooo!" said the yellow haired prankster in a sing-song voice. Oreonna let out a squeak of surprise.

"Y-Yang!? Down please!" Oreonna managed to force out with her legs kicking wildly in the air as Yang lifted her smaller body off the ground. Tukson couldn't help but laugh at the girl's antics.

When Oreonna had first started attending Signal Academy- hell, school in general- Tukson had been uneasy. His daughter had always been a little quiet and skittish around strangers, and it made him worry about her ability to make friends. Tukson was all too familiar with just how cruel humanity could be to their kind, and Oreonna didn't have the advantage of her faunus traits being as easy to hide as his were. The thought of his daughter being discriminated against kept him awake at night, but that's where Yang had come in.

Since they'd met as kids, the blonde had bombarded Oreonna with her own special brand of friendship, the intensity of which could probably power a small sun. She was there for Oreonna when she needed her, like a good friend, always ready to support her or provide a little gentle teasing. Tukson was glad to see a human so accepting and understanding of their kind. She treated his daughter as an equal, and it gave him hope for the future. Though he wasn't so naive to think things would ever be perfect between their races, since he knew both sides had a long way to go to understanding each other, but with small victories like this, seeing the two of them together, the world looked a little brighter to the once jaded faunus. Finally, Yang released the wiggling Oreonna from her vice like grip. The cat girl immediately shot a playful glare at her father.

"Thanks for the warning," she said. Tukson merely smirked and responded with, "How could I resist?" Oreonna rolled her eyes at her father using her own words against her before returning to address Yang. "You've turned my own father against me, Yang Xiao Long. This betrayal will not go unpunished," she threatened.

Yang raised her hands in mock surrender. "What can I say? I choose my partners in crime well. Speaking of which," she looked past Oreonna and addressed Tukson, "how's it going, Mr.D? Good to see you getting out of that dusty old book store once in a while."

Now it was Tukson's turn to roll his eyes, "Always a pleasure, Miss Xiao Long. I assume you're preparing for your exam as well?"

Yang's grin somehow grow even larger as she cracked her knuckles, a determined look in her eyes. "Aw, yeah! They won't know what hit 'em!"

"Who won't know what hit them? All those poor defenseless holograms? Are you gonna put the fear of god into all those ones and zeroes?" Oreonna teased.

"Yes. Yes I will," Yang put simply, ignoring her friends attempt at a jab, "Speaking of which, how'd your exam go, Kit-Kat? Nailed it?"

"Nailed it," Oreonna replied, wincing slightly at the use of her least favorite nickname that Yang had come up with for her. The two shared a high five, before Yang did a fist pump.

"Alright! All I have to do now is ace mine, and the two of us will be taking Beacon by storm in no time!" Tukson saw his daughter's whole body tense up at Yang's proclamation. He felt his do the same as a feeling of unease settled in his stomach. _If only things were that easy,_ he thought.

An awkward silence followed between the three as Yang, the only one without a clue in the situation, gave the two faunus a confused look. Thankfully for Tukson, Oreonna chose to speak up first. "Well... that might not be a thing quite yet. You see, Beacon can be a little... expensive... with tuition and everything... and..."

Tukson felt pained watching his daughter stumble threw her explanation, so he decide to interject to spare her some of the embarrassment. "Things at the book trade have just been a little rough this year," he explained, "with repairs it's needed, and just a general lack of our usual customers, money's gotten a little tight now."

Tukson's words seemed to help Oreonna find her own as she continued, "It just doesn't look like I'll be able to attend Beacon this year."

And there it was, the monkey wrench in the whole situation. Being a single parent, as well as a small business owner, had put more than a little strain on the Delsole family funds. Combine that with the fact that people these days were finding less and less value in physical books and the prognosis wasn't great, the digital age was showing no signs of stopping any time soon. Who could blame people? With the convenience of having almost any book available to you on your scroll with the touch of a screen, who would want to take time to go support their local bookstore? But Tukson wasn't about to go down without a fight though. Frequent sales, as well as things like expanding his stock to include comics and manga, have kept his shop relevant and populated, if only barely. Tukson was working six days a week to keep them afloat. His daughter helped out when she could, but her schoolwork always came first; Tukson's rule. Hiring more help wasn't an option, as a payroll would only exasperate the money situation. Things were looking rough for Tukson's Book Trade, but they'd make it. They always did. But realizing Oreonna's future had to be put on hold, that never sat right with Tukson.

Yang had a deflated look on her face as Oreonna finished up her explanation. "So, I'm just gonna take a year off. Help my dad at the bookstore, train in my spare time, and I'll join you at Beacon before you know it... hopefully..." Oreonna added quietly.

Tukson's frown deepened. His little girl deserved so much better. Of course, when Tukson had broken the news to her about Beacon several months ago, Oreonna had been nothing if not understanding. She knew how much Signal Academy alone had set them back, and with that in mind, she offered her father her full support. She was a tough kid. Though she put on a brave face for him, Tukson could tell she'd been devastated. He wished he could afford to give her everything she deserved.

Yang, for her part was doing her best to brighten Oreonna's mood. "Well... that's not so bad! Look at it this way; if you end up having to wait _two_ years, you'll get to be in the same class as Ruby... Heh heh... heh..." Swing and a miss.

Oreonna's frown sunk even deeper as another awkward silence filled the air. Before Yang could try and attempt a save, an unbearably catchy pop song started blaring out of her back pocket. The blonde reached into her pocket to retrieve her scroll and checked it. "Oh... Well, looks like I'm up," Yang said sliding the device back in place. "Wish me luck?" she asked, offering Oreonna a weak smile.

Oreonna reciprocated, putting on a convincing smile for her friend. "Knock 'em dead, Yang."

The blonde's smile broadened as she approached and placed a hand on Oreonna's shoulder. "Don't sweat the Beacon thing, okay Oreo? You'll be there before you know it, and I'll be waiting when you get there," Yang said, "I'll try not to burn the place down without you," the blonde added with a playful wink at the end. The faunus girls smile returned, slightly more genuine than before as Yang started up the steps towards Signal's entrance. "Catch you later, Kit-Kat," Yang communicated over her shoulder, offering a lazy, two-fingered salute as she disappeared through the double doors.

With that, the father and daughter duo were left alone again, the uneasiness in the air almost palpable. Tukson felt like he should say something. He had no idea what, but he figured he'd just start talking and hope for the best. That was better than nothing, he supposed.

Thankfully, before Tukson could almost assuredly embarrass himself, a third party entered the conversation, "Pardon me, my dear?"

The hair on the back of Tukson's neck stood up straight. How had anyone managed to sneak up on him? Granted, his reaction time wasn't what it used to be, but he thought his faunus enhanced senses made him a little more aware than this. God, he hated getting old. He felt the muscles in his hands instinctively tighten, his claws ready to spring out. Tukson spun around, stance slightly lower, ready to go into a full pounce if necessary.

Oreonna spun as well, equally surprised. She may have lacked her father's natural claws, as well as her usual weapon, but she was a huntress in training, and the defensive pose she struck gave credit to this title.

To many, this fearsome duo would be enough to strike fear into their hearts, but the women who had interrupted them merely raised an eyebrow at the two, a neutral expression on her face. "Forgive me, I didn't intend to startle you both," the mysterious woman said, dipping her head into a slight bow.

Tukson refused to lower his guard as he began to examine the women before them. She wore a long green shoulder-less dress that went down to her feet, it's long sleeves widened as they approached her hands with flower patterns at the ends. At around her elbows, a long piece of sea-green fabric hung over her arms connecting behind her back. An emerald sash was tied around her waist acting as a make-shift belt of sorts. The pale skin around her exposed neck was interrupted by a gold necklace with a large emerald in the center, as well as a tattoo of a flower encompassing her left shoulder with vines that Tukson assumed traveled down her arm, but her hands were hidden beneath her sleeves, so he could only speculate. She had a stern face and appeared to be around Tukson's age. Jade eyes cast a sharp gaze, accentuated by light green eye shadow. A gold tiara rested in her forest green hair with a small leaf symbol in its center, adding a regal sense to her appearance.

However, of all her features, by far the most outspoken were the large antlers sticking out of her hair. Tukson had seen faunus with this trait before. They weren't exactly a rarity in the world, but this faunus' antlers were by far the largest he'd ever seen, extending a good foot and a half above her head. They definitely gave off an air of intimidation, but the most bizarre part about them were the flowers that seemed to be growing on the antler's tips. Multiple colors and varieties sprung out of every end of the faunus trait, giving off the notion that her antler's were actually part of a tree, but that would be ridiculous... right? Her connection to nature was obvious based on her appearance.

Was this woman a threat? Her appearance gave off conflicting messages on the subject. Seeing no other options, Tukson relaxed his pose, reluctantly deciding to let the faunus' actions speak for her. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Oreonna following his lead. Seeing the hostility of her company fade, the mysterious woman continued, speaking in a clear, calm voice, enunciating every syllable. "My name is Eden Evergreen. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation just now, and I would like to make an offer to your daughter, Mr. Delsole."

To Tukson, only two things about this woman mattered: She was a faunus, and she was a stranger. Given his history, both of those were enough to set off alarm bells in his head, especially when it came to his daughter, but he felt Oreonna place a hand on his forearm, as if she could sense her father's overprotective nature taking over. She offered Tukson a nod of confidence, and he relented. His daughter was an adult now, as hard as that was to admit, and he had to have faith in her ability to make her own decisions. Oreonna took a step towards Eden, locking eyes with her as she spoke. "What can I do for you, Miss Evergreen?"

The elder faunus offered a small, appreciative smile to the younger faunus, before taking her own step forward, still keeping a comfortable distance, but making it clear to whom she was addressing. "I witnessed your examination today. I must admit, you were quite impressive, not to mention your academic achievements. Any kingdom's academy would be lucky to have you as a student." Whoever she was, this woman wasn't doing a great job to lower Tukson's apprehension, but he allowed her to continue. "However, I also heard about your monetary concerns. I'm afraid there's not much I can do to get you into Beacon, but that is far from the only option available to you."

Eden had officially captured their interest. Oreonna offered a skeptical look, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"My dear, I represent Shade Academy. Have you heard of it?"

"Shade Academy? You mean... in Vacuo?" Oreonna replied, seemingly confused by the proposition.

Tukson knew of the academy, and even more of Vacuo. In his youth the... company he'd kept gave him the opportunity to travel quite a bit across Remnant. Not as strict as Atlas, or as well known as Beacon, Shade was located in the vast deserts of Vacuo, next to a small city called Mirage. The region's extreme climate and harsh environment added a degree of intensity to its training, which in turn resulted in better Hunters. Suddenly, Eden's strange appearance was beginning to make sense. She was a huntress.

"Glad to see you are familiar with my school." Eden said.

Wait. _Her_ school?

"As headmistress of the academy, I travel quite a bit and more often than not, my journey's take me to other kingdoms, where I make a point to scope out the... competition," a smirk flashed across the faunus' face before vanishing. "and after what I witnessed in that building today, I would like to offer to you a full scholarship at Shade, covering all expenses including travel," Eden said with a hint of pride in her voice. "That is, if you are interested." The deer faunus extended a hand towards Oreonna. In it, was a small card. As the stunned girl reached up to instinctively grasp it, Tukson noticed something strange. As he got a good look up Eden's sleeve, he could make out something that looked like... vines? Not tattoo's like on her shoulder, but actual, physical vines, and what's stranger was, when he noticed them, they seemed to retreat back further up the faunus women's sleeve and out of sight. The word strange was quickly becoming insufficient to describe this woman.

Tukson pulled his mind away from the subject and instead focused on the incredible offer that had been presented to his daughter. He was skeptical, of course. It seemed too good to be true, but... what if it was true? This could be the answer to their problems! Oreonna would get the education she deserved now, not in a year, but now, and he could rest well knowing-

"Thank you, but I can't accept this."

Oreonna's words slammed Tukson out of his thoughts. _What!?_ He thought. This was everything his daughter had ever wanted, why was she turning it down?

"I just... ever since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to attend Beacon," Oreonna explained, "It was my dream, and even if it means waiting a year, I'd rather that than travel halfway across the world... I'm sorry."

If Eden had been at all shaken by Oreonna's refusal like Tukson had, she didn't show it. She merely continued on in the same clear voice. "The choice is yours, my dear, as I said, but I should warn you, a year may not seem like a long time, but I've seen it be the kiss of death for many young hunters career's." For the first time since their meeting began, Eden broke eye contact with Oreonna. A look of sadness washed over the elder faunus' features before she resumed the conversation. "A year without proper training, without an education, I believe you'll find maintaining the level of skill you have now much more difficult than you imagine," Eden's gaze returned to Oreonna, "But as I said, the choice is yours."

The younger faunus looked conflicted. "I.. I just... I can't..." Oreonna stammered out. She looked to her father for some kind of answer. He didn't have one. He just couldn't understand why his daughter would turn away everything she'd ever wanted. Something was holding her back. He just didn't know what yet.

"There's no need to decide right this moment, Miss Delsole. You have my number," Eden said, referring to the card Oreonna was still holding, "However, I will only be in Vale on business for the next several days. I'm afraid I will need an answer before then." The deer faunus offered another small bow before turning away, "I hope to hear from you soon," she said over her shoulder, a small smile on her lips, before she continued down the street and around the corner out of sight. Tukson's eyes followed her until she disappeared from view. Hunters. they always had to play the mysterious stranger type, didn't they?

He turned his gaze back to Oreonna. She looked visibly depressed now, much like when Tukson had first seen her as she left Signal, only now it appeared her feelings were genuine. Whatever elation she had been experiencing from today seemed to have been extinguished by the ultimatum she'd just received.

"Hey," Tukson's spoke after what seemed like forever. Oreonna looked up at her father's voice, "C'mon, sushi's not gonna eat itself, right?" Tukson was desperate to lift her spirits. If that meant procrastinating on the decision they were both going to have to make, even if it was just for a few hours, that'd be fine with him.

Oreonna managed to produce a less than enthusiastic smile. "Sure... yeah." The two proceeded down the street together, Oreonna appeared deep in thought while Tukson gave his daughter a concerned look.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **A/N-** _Shorter chapter this time. Fun fact: I actually wrote this chapter last out of the eleven I have done so far. The chapters got longer as I wrote them, mainly thanks to gratuitous flashbacks in almost every one._

 _So now we have our starting point in the canon timeline. This is taking place around the beginning of Volume 1, I'd say just before Chapter 1. The story will basically follow the shows actual timeline, but from a different perspective, or perspectives I guess. I hope you guys continue to enjoy this!_

 _Special thanks to **snowcloud8** for editing this chapter for me. It couldn't have been easy, but I re-learned a lot from them about basic grammar that I'd forgotten about over the years. _

_I'm genuinely surprised by all the favs/follows I got for the first chapter, you guys made my day with all your support! Hopefully I can keep up this pace with the uploads, but I promise nothing and deliver less._

 _:P_


	3. The Heart of the Matter

**Chapter Three- Heart of the Matter**

The sun had long since set over Tukson's Book Trade, and the fractured moon was now hanging in the night sky. The "closed" sign had been hung in the dimmed windows hours ago, but the proprietor was still hard at work inside. Tukson sat in the back room, parked at a small desk with an ancient looking computer in front of it, stacks of his back stock copies of books surrounded him making the small room seem even more cramped. It wasn't much, and some might call into question his organizational skills, but Tukson's Book Trade was his, and he'd always run it the way he'd seen fit. Hunched over the almost comically tiny desk, Tukson worked tirelessly, entering sales and other data into the computer with the help of a calculator for the more difficult equations. Some might see this work as tedious, but Tukson loved his business, every part of it, that and the book work provided him with a welcome distraction from the events earlier that day.

Lunch hadn't been the uplifting celebration he had hoped it would. Oreonna had been quiet throughout the entire meal, barely picking at her sushi, it was clear that the meeting with Eden Evergreen still weighed heavily on her mind. Even after they had returned to the book store, the teenager had quietly excused herself to her room and hadn't been heard from since. She hadn't gone far mind you, as they both lived in the small apartment on the second floor, but to Tukson, she might as well have been on the moon.

Raising a teenager by himself had taught him that when they wanted space, it was best to give it to them, but at the same time, he couldn't wrap his head around why his daughter had been so quick to dismiss the offer. Tukson had been skeptical about the enigmatic woman as well, but a quick check on the internet verified Eden's credentials as headmistress of Shade Academy. The scholarship was a incredible gift, so why was Oreonna throwing it away?

He had to know why... but then again... Oreonna was kind of scary when she was upset. She didn't get to that point often, but when she did... Tukson felt a shiver run up his spine, it was not a conversation he was looking forward to having. Unfortunately for Tukson, with a few more keystrokes, he had finished his work for the day. No more distractions, and no more excuses, it was time for him to put on his dad pants, and get to the heart of the matter. The faunus let out a sigh, standing up and practically dragging himself over to the old wooden staircase in the corner of the back room, the familiar creaking of the steps did little to alleviate his nervousness as he ascended them. Even after all these years, he'd rather take down a whole pack of Beowolves with just an egg beater and a blindfold than face his daughter when she was upset. He didn't have the luxury though, he was her dad, this was part of the job. That meant that good times, bad times, they were there for each other, always have been. He loved his daughter, and that meant he had to find out what was on her mind.

At the top of the staircase was an old wooden door, as Tukson stepped through the tall faunus instinctively ducked under the low frame as he had seemingly a million times before. If there was one word to describe the Delsole abode, it would be "cozy", the small two bedroom apartment wasted no space, as Tukson's long strides easily crossed through the kitchen in just a step or two. He passed the fridge, which was covered in crayon drawings from Oreonna's younger years, much to her chagrin, Tukson had never had the heart to get rid of them. The quaint living room he entered next consisted of a couch and an old leather recliner Tukson had found on a street corner when he'd first moved in and there was a modest sized TV on a table in front of the furniture. Sooner than he'd of liked, the bulky faunus stood in front of the door to his daughter's room, Tukson couldn't help but smile at the hand painted "Oreo" on the door, complete with a cat face as well as a pair of hand-prints on each side. Thankfully, before he could get lost in his memories, he raised his hand to the door, he took a deep breath before he finally gave it a quiet tap, just in case his daughter had fallen asleep.

"Oreo? you awake?"

"Yup! C'mon in," replied a voice from the other side, slightly more chipper than Tukson had expected. He opened up the door to find Oreonna on her knees, a large oil stained cloth was spread on the floor in front of her, on it, sat an assortment of metal pieces that Tukson immediately recognized as her disassembled weapon, a dust dispensing shield/violin she had dubbed "Symphonic Discord". His daughter was currently preoccupied using a small brush to scrub out one of the dust chambers on the violin's tuning pegs. All around her were small bottles and jars of various cleaning chemicals, Oreonna was wearing an old dirty apron and had her polarizing hair tied into a messy ponytail. Tukson looked back down to the mess of parts that apparently, once reassembled, formed a high powered, natures wrath dispersing, weapon of mass destruction. The instrument was miles above anything he could ever hope to create, Oreonna definitely hadn't gotten her engineering skills from him, that was for certain. But he didn't have to understand how it worked, the bond between a hunter and their weapon was something that defied explanation, that's why they spent so long perfecting such intricate and deadly tools, a hunter's weapon was their livelihood. Satisfied that the piece was free of any obstructions that might cause a misfire in the field, Oreonna gently placed the part with the others before looking up to address her father.

"So, what's up?" she asked with a smile.

Tukson had been so lost in his admiration of his daughters technical skills, he had almost forgotten the reason he'd come, "I was hoping we could talk about... you know... earlier?" Immediately, Oreonna's smile vanished. She averted her eyes to the left of Tukson, her feline ears laid flat against her head.

"No need." she stated bluntly, "I've already decided. I'm not interested." Oreonna seemed determined to end the conversation there, but Tukson wasn't giving up that easily.

"Can I ask why?" Tukson said tentatively.

Oreonna sighed, "It's just... I don't know, alright? It's really far away, I won't know anybody there, I've barely ever even left the kingdom before, pick any of those reasons, I just don't want to go, okay?!" As Oreonna rattled off the reasons, Tukson could tell she was getting more and more agitated. Her tail was flicking from left to right, her hands balled into fists, it was risky, but he knew he had to get to the core of whatever was really bothering her.

"Oreonna, what's holding you back? Please, you know you can tell me anything," he reasoned.

The younger faunus stood, clearly aggravated at her fathers persistence on the issue, "Nothing! Nothing's 'holding me back', OK!? I just..." Oreonna stammered a bit, "I just don't think it's a good idea for me to leave, alright?!" She stomped over to her bed and sat on the edge, crossing her arms and staring at the floor.

Tukson took a chance and sat next to her, when she didn't react, he spoke, "Oreonna... you've always wanted to become a huntress, and you've always looked forward to the traveling and seeing the world aspect of it, so that can't be why," Oreonna put her hands at her side, grasping the sheets of her bed tightly as she grit her teeth, but Tukson continued, "and if you're worried about not knowing anyone, I can almost guarantee that you won't be the only fish out of water at Shade. You'll have every opportunity to make new friends. Trust me Oreo, you're gonna be fine-".

"AND WHAT ABOUT YOU, HUH!? ARE GOING TO BE 'FINE!?'" Oreonna blurted out, her eyes brimming with tears. This caught Tukson off guard. She was worried about... him? Why? "If I just run off to Vacuo, what's gonna happen to you?" Oreonna said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, "You've sacrificed so much for me, and I'm supposed to just abandon you? What about the store? Who's going to help you with customers? Who's gonna help you take inventory? Who's gonna make sure you take breaks? And who's going to keep you from working yourself to death!?"

At that moment, Tukson finally realized what was holding his daughter back. It was him.

It made sense, at the end of the day, they were all each other had. He didn't WANT her to leave, of course, in fact, there had been a time he'd entertained the idea of one day passing on the family business to his daughter, that is, until she began to show interest in becoming a huntress. He'd been a little hurt at first, but he couldn't have been prouder, it was a noble calling to chose in life, and he swore he'd do anything to help his daughter make her dreams become a reality. He didn't want to lose her, but if staying here meant her giving up on those dreams and spending the rest of her life working in the shop because of him... he couldn't stand the idea of her wasting all of that potential just so he wouldn't be alone.

He couldn't take it anymore, Tukson pulled his daughter into a powerful hug, "Oh, Oreo," he spoke softly, "I know you worry about me, but you can't let that stand in the way of who you're destined to be. I couldn't bare the idea of getting between you and the amazing future I know you're going to have." Tukson began rubbing his hand in a small circle on his daughters back, she let out a small sniffle, muffled with her face buried in her father's shoulder. Tukson grasped Oreonna's shoulders and gently moved her back so he could look into her eyes when he spoke to her, "Now then, let me ask you: Do you want to become a huntress?" Oreonna wiped her red, puffy eyes again before nodding, "and do you want to see the world beyond this kingdom and this tiny bookstore?"

"...Yeah," Oreonna responded with a bit more confidence now.

Tukson offered a small smile to her, "Then nothing should stop you from doing it, least of all me."

Oreonna still looked conflicted, but after a moment, she gave a hardened expression, "Can... can you just promise me, that you'll be okay?" she pleaded, "Promise that you'll take care of yourself? Make sure you eat healthy, don't work too hard, get plenty of rest, and-"

Tukson let out a short laugh, "Hey now, aren't I supposed to tell you to do that stuff?" Oreonna's face remained serious, "Okay, okay,  
I promise."

Oreonna smiled softly, "...Alright then."

Tukson felt the weight on his shoulders begin to lift, "Alright," he reached forward and tussled his daughters hair, making her cat ears twitch affectionately, "then I guess that settles that, huh, Kit-Kat?"

Oreonna rolled her eyes and let out a half laugh, half sob, "That's it, you're not allowed to talk to my friends anymore."

"Aww, that's not fair, who will I try on make up with? And talk about cute boys?" The two shared a quick laugh, it was as if nothing had changed between them, even though one of them had just made a life-changing decision.

The cat faunus' eyes lit up, "Wow, so this is actually happening?" she said, the reality of the situation finally dawning on her. "I'm going to Vacuo, to an real Academy, I'm actually going to become a Huntress!" Her excitement was beginning to boil over, "Oh my god! I have to call Miss Evergreen!" Oreonna scrambled across her bed to grab her scroll from the nightstand, before Tukson stopped her.

"Uhh, Oreo? It's 11:30 at night."

"Oh... Yeah, guess I should probably wait until morning, I guess," she said sheepishly, "but how am I supposed to get to sleep now?!" Oreonna realized with a distraught expression. As he got off the bed, Tukson let out a chuckle, before tussling his daughters hair once more.

"Try and get some rest Oreo, tomorrow's the first day of the rest of your life".

"Ugh. My dad is a huge dork," Oreonna lamented as she went back to her position on the floor to reassemble Symphonic Discord.

"Yeah, he is. Lucky you." Tukson said as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, dad?" Oreonna said, just as he was about to shut the door.

"Hmm?" Tukson opened the door a little to stick his head back in his daughter's room.

Oreonna looked up at her father from the pile of parts on the floor, gratitude evident on her face. "Thanks."

Tukson smiled back, "No problem. Good talk?"

Oreonna beamed at him, "Yeah, good talk."

With that, Tukson closed the door behind him, genuine pride was overflowing throughout him, but somewhere inside he had a gnawing feeling of guilt. He wished his reasons for pressing the Shade issue had been entirety selfless, but as he made his way out of the cramped apartment, back downstairs to the store room of Tukson's Book Trade, he couldn't stop feeling uneasy. His feelings did not improve as he stood in front of the blue banner that hung on his wall. He studied the white beast's head in the center of the flag, it looked content, almost peaceful, with it's head bowed slightly, but it's sharp fangs were bared just a little as a warning to those who would mistreat it. Tukson always liked this flag, it was a symbol of peace, but not of subjugation, a willingness to comply, but not be tread upon, something the organization he had once been a part of had stood for long ago. Now, it seems you couldn't go a day without hearing about another bloodbath in the streets involving the once peaceful group.

Tukson sighed, before reaching up and lifting the corner of the flag. Using his free hand, he removed the loose wooden plank in the wall. He reached into the exposed hole and pulled out a old, worn, green notebook, his gaze momentarily locked onto the long rectangular case hidden in the wall before he slid the board back in place. He brought the book over to his desk before opening it, inside was a mess of notes, with photos taped to some pages, as well as hand drawn maps of sections of Vale. He pulled out a red pen and began circling various alleyways and intersections, adding notes like 'unsafe', 'possible meeting points' and 'what are they here for?'

Tukson placed his pen on the table, taking in his work. There was no denying it, they were here. The White Fang was in Vale.

He had been a member for so long, it was impossible to miss the signs, the increase in dust store robberies, suspicious faunus staking out locations, and the general feeling of dread on the streets these days. However, he hadn't been convinced it was them until he saw the markings, the three vertical claw marks, like a beast marking it's territory, appearing on various street corners and alleyways just out of sight so that only the right people would see them. The White Fang wasn't just here, they were also recruiting. They were laying low for now at least, but that wouldn't last forever, the terrorist group wasn't known for there subtlety or patience nowadays.

Tukson brought his hands up and massaged his temples, it was a mess, that was for certain. He couldn't go to the police, they'd either think he was paranoid, or they'd dig a little deeper and find out just how he knew all of this information about the Fang.

He'd been so young when he'd joined. Just a scared kid who'd lost everything, his home, his family, his life had been torn apart just because he'd been born different. He still remembered that day... the faunus purge of Chip. Those men that had come into his mom's store, the look in their eyes, the smell coming from the canisters of gasoline they'd brought with them, it was all as fresh in his mind as the day it'd happened. He relived it too often, his mother shoving him into the back room and locking him away from the intruders, his father growling in anger as he lunged at them with his claws out, and then two shots being fired. Then came the flames, and he ran, the streets of his hometown filled with the screams of his people, he couldn't help any of them, so he just kept running. Luckily not everyone in his hometown had felt the same as those with murderous intent, and with the help of a few kind souls, he was able to board a ship off the island with the only other two survivors of his race. Tukson cried for days after that, but when he was done, something new had awoken in him, something fierce, and not long after that, the White Fang picked him and the other survivors up.

He was so angry then, looking for someone to blame, looking to make change, no matter what the cost. So when the "peaceful group" started to change, he changed too. They kept things quiet at first, on the surface, the Fang kept to there usual non-violent protesting and rallying ways. But behind the scenes, a splinter group who was tired of the lack of results decided to start heading down a darker path. Not even their leader at the time knew what they were up to as they recruited those with similar thoughts to aid them, and Tukson was all too eager to lend a claw or two.

He'd been a strategist, of sorts. Tukson helped plot assassinations, organized raids, and more often than not, got his own hands dirty. Memories of violence flashed through Tukson's mind, causing him to drag his hand across his face with a groan. What had he been thinking? Why did he ever think that he could make a difference doing things that way? All he'd ever done was give people more of a reason to hate and fear his kind. Now he was an old man who wished he'd never joined up with the White Fang in the first place. Nothing good had come of it...  
 _  
Well... there was one good thing..._ Tukson thought. After all, it was when he was working for them that he'd met Neo _..._ but that was another story for another time. People change, and after years of bloodshed and losing friends, Tukson had enough, he wanted out. It wasn't easy, you don't just walk away from a group like that, so once again, he was forced to run. He bought a ticket to Vale and opened up a bookstore there, just like the one his parents had. It seemed like the right thing to do, to live a quiet life, but fate had different plans, and that's when Oreonna was dropped on his doorstep, kind of disrupting his peaceful plans in the most beautiful and amazing way. That was supposed to be his life now, the past wasn't supposed to catch up with him, that chapter in his life was over.

It wasn't though, the White Fang was here now, that was irrefutable. They were up to something, and things were only going to get worse. So.. what was he going to do about it? That's what he'd been up to every night these past few weeks, he was trying to find a way to stop them. How hard could it be? This was his job when he was with the Fang, after all: planning, organizing, trying to find ways to win fights before the opponents even knew one had started.

There was only one hitch in his plan: Oreonna.

She didn't know about her fathers past, and she never would if he had his way. That flag in his office was just a flag to her, just another strange knick knack her father had picked up over the years. He never wanted to involve her in the world he grew up in... but now, that world was coming dangerously close to intertwining with his new one. But Vacuo... Vacuo could work. It was a far away kingdom, majorly populated by faunus, which made it pretty low on the White Fang's target list. It wasn't one hundred percent safe, but where was these days?

This Shade scholarship was the best thing that had ever happened to them. Oreonna would get the training she needed for the noble calling in her life, and the White Fang wouldn't be near her. Hell, if Tukson screwed up really bad, he had no qualms about dropping everything and joining her in Vacuo if things got too heated, but he owed it to Vale and the people here to at least try and do something to stop the White Fang. The city had been good to him over the years, more than a few people here had even treated him with a kindness he hadn't experienced in a long time, that's the only reason he wasn't just running outright. However, at the end of the day, Oreonna was all that really mattered to him, and push come to shove, he'd abandon the sinking ship of a city in a heartbeat if it came to it.

So that was it, make sure his daughter was taken care of, then... well, he still had a few contacts from back in the day, he could start by calling them. It wasn't an army, like the White Fang had, but there was a lot Tukson could do with the right information. Put a few guys on lookout, insert a few infiltrators at their meetings, he could do this, no sweat, right?

But as he started making a list in one of the notebooks blank pages, he couldn't suppress the sense of dread about this whole situation. After all, he hadn't been in a proper fight in years, his semblance wasn't what it used to be either, what would happen if this all went south faster than he could get out? Well, that part was simple, they'd kill him. The White Fang had zero tolerance for deserters, especially ones that try to stand in their way. He had to stay convicted, regardless of the danger, these were risks he was going to have to take in order to protect this city.

But that wasn't the only issue... the matter of lying to his own daughter weighed heavy on him, he go so far as to say he hated himself for it. Thoughts like, _'I'm doing this for her own good'_ and _'she'd understand why it has to be this way'_ did little to quell these feelings. What would she think if she knew the truth? Tukson only saw two possibilities, one being she'd despise him, not just for what he'd done in the past, but for keeping her in the dark for so long. Or -the possibly more terrifying scenario- she'd agree with him, and of course, that'd mean she'd want to help him. Tukson had all the faith in the world in Oreonna's abilities, but she was still learning, she wasn't ready for a fight like this, someday, maybe, but not yet. He'd never intentionally drag her into this, not if he could help it, the thought of her getting hurt -or worse- because of his fight... Never, that'd never happen, he wouldn't let it happen. Maybe all this secrecy made him a coward, but when he thought of the alternative, he was okay with that.

Finally done with his list, Tukson looked to the small clock hanging over his desk, it was getting late. As much as he tried to fight it, his body still needed sleep to function, and there was a lot to be done in the next few days. He closed his book and stood up, he gave a big stretch, his back making several satisfying cracks as he yawned. He returned the notebook to it's hiding place, gazing upon the White Fang's old flag for a moment longer. He took a look around his shop's back room, not staring at anything in particular, just taking it all in, his business, his livelihood, and upstairs, asleep -at least she'd better be- his pride and joy.

"It's not much, but it's mine," Tukson said to himself, starting up the stairs to his apartment. "and I'm damn sure going to fight for it," he vowed, as he turned out the light.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **A/N-** _*Promises chapters will get longer- Releases shortest chapter yet*_

 _I'M SORRY! OK!?  
_

 _Like I said, I wrote these chapters before the first one when I was young and impressionable. They do get longer! I promise!_

 _Anyways, next chapter we get back to some action. Can you say, "Awkward first date?"_

 _Ye._


	4. An Unlikely Meeting

**Chapter 4- An Unlikely Meeting**

 _The smell of freshly fallen rain filled the night, covering the grounds of the old stone mansion. Some people envied the scent, it was like the slate had been cleaned, the pallet cleansed, a new beginning. However, to the figure watching the home from the heavily wooded forest across the street, it meant one thing: any scents of people having come or gone from the premises had been washed away hours ago._

 _The shadowy figure let out a frustrated snarl. Hidden among the brush, they were barely noticeable while dressed in all black. A thick hood hung over their head, obscuring the top half of their face. Below that sat a silver mask covering their mouth and nose, a monstrous tooth-filled maw was painted on it in red. He cut a tall, intimidating figure as he stood slowly, the moonlight revealing the deep red symbol on his outfits back, it was a wolf, teeth bared, ears flat, and three long slash marks behind it. The dark figure observed the mansion skeptically through his golden irises, the darkness of the night doing little to hinder his vision, one of the many perks to being a faunus._

 _It was a good acre of property, the building itself had once been an old schoolhouse, before the new owner had bought it and converted it into what it was today, a gaudy symbol of their wealth. Three stories tall with dark shutters and a multi-car garage -added after the remodel, obviously- the architecture gave off a sense of wealth and power. At the end of the long curving driveway sat a ten foot brick wall that surrounded the entire property. The spikes at the top of the barricade, as well as the security cameras posted at regular intervals, gave off a clear message: "Stay Out". Unfortunately for the manor's owner, that was a message that the shadowy soon to be intruder was about to ignore._

 _The faunus studied his options. His intel suggested that the gate was a no go, it was electrified, but the brick and mortar the wall was primarily composed of wasn't, just the spikes and area on top. But then there was the cameras, swinging back and forth assuring no section of the street surrounding the estate was unsupervised for more than a couple seconds... well, all but one._

 _He'd been scouting this location for some time now, and he'd noticed exactly one camera was slower with it's rotations. Maybe the weather had made it's insides slightly rusty or something, he didn't really care, all that mattered was it bought him a few more seconds. It wasn't much, but he could work with it._

 _He watched the malfunctioning camera stutter as it turned, it's servos clicking as it struggled to move. Beneath his hood, his golden eyes were unblinking, his pupils reduced to slits. Then, like a bolt fired from a crossbow, he burst out of hiding, heading straight towards the wall. When he was about three quarters of the way there, he brought his hands up, and from the fingertips of his ebony gloves, two inch long brown claws erupted with a "snikt". With a single leap, he embedded his claws into the row of bricks just below the electrified top of the wall, and with one final push with his feet, he flipped and sailed over the obstruction, landing in a crouch on the other side._ _For a moment, the faunus remained still in that position, almost as if he was waiting for something, some sign that he'd been discovered. There was nothing, the same quite mansion sat unperturbed in the darkness, still as death, something wasn't right._

 _"Tukson? What's your status?" a female voice chimed in over the earpiece he was wearing._

 _Tukson brought a finger to his ear to answer, "I've arrived, but it's way too quiet. Are we sure he's even home?"_

 _"Positive, his car arrived a couple hours ago. Plus, his private security force is still on site. He's in there."_

 _Tukson offered a grunt of acknowledgement, "Okay, I'm moving in."_

 _"Gotcha. Be careful, Tukson."_

 _"Thanks, Carmella," Tukson ended the call, radio silence was to be the norm for the rest of the mission._

 _Their conversation over, Tukson began slowly creeping across the manicured lawn, passing numerous well trimmed hedges and bushes, some tastelessly cut into the shape of animals. The owner of the house, Drake Ivey, had money, and he clearly wanted everyone to know, but it was how he had amassed his fortune that had gotten him in the White Fang's cross-hairs._

 _Drake was a well dressed, influential, and powerful stock trader, respected in many social circles, especially after he struck it rich with his investments. The best suits, the most exotic cars, beautiful women, nothing was too good for him. He made sure to keep up appearances though, donating to local charities during the holidays, and hosting several fundraisers a year, image was everything for Drake. It was all a front though, a facade he lived that had been created by consultants just as corrupt and morally bankrupt as Drake himself. His wealth wasn't the result of any lucrative business deals, no, Drake had instead decided to go the route of a black market dust dealer. That alone would be enough to put him on many powerful groups hit list, but it was how he acquired his goods that had gotten Tukson's, as well a the rest of the White Fang's attention: faunus slaves._

 _The thought of Tukson's people being snatched off the streets for this made him clench his teeth in anger. The hungry and poor, those that wouldn't be missed, they were being shipped halfway across the world and being worked to death in dust mines for this man's corrupt empire. All so Drake could continue to live the lavish life he's built for himself on the corpses of Tukson's kind. It made the faunus' blood boil._

 _Tukson's hand went to the tube shaped device hanging from a strap at his side, the cool metal it was comprised of felt familiar to him, and the memories it brought made him smile in a sick sort of way. Drake wasn't special, just another scumbag human, he wouldn't be the first one Tukson had been sent to deal with, and he wouldn't be the last. Tukson would enjoy this one though, a man like this, someone who viewed faunus as a means to an end, some resource to be exploited, he'd make sure he felt every second of his punishment. Yes, Drake's story would become a cautionary tale, a lesson to any human that dared to-_

 _A gunshot broke Tukson out of his thoughts._

 _His head snapped up, the shot had been fired from inside the house, but not at him. The faunus began scanning the darkened windows of the home, until he saw a bright flash inside the room on the northeast corner of the second story, accompanied by the sound of another shot. If the blueprints the White Fang had "acquired" were accurate, that was Drake's office._

 _Throwing subtlety to the wind, Tukson began sprinting towards the house, more specifically, towards the large glass terrace door. Not slowing down, he thrust his shoulder into the entrance, it didn't stand a chance against the bulky faunus frame as the glass shattered into pieces. Now inside, all Tukson's suspicions were confirmed, no alarms, no lights, and perhaps most noticeable: the corpses of Drake's private security littered the foyer were Tukson had entered._

 _Someone else was **here**._

 _Someone else was here for **Drake**._

 _There were at least five or six bodies covering the floor, all dressed in matching black suits, each of them seemed to have been taken down with a single stab wound. Tukson leapt over the body of an unlucky guard who looked like he'd been stabbed right through the eye, then another who had gotten a blade in his chest, directly in their heart. Cutting the power, eliminating the security, all without alerting Tukson outside. This intruder -whoever they were- was a professional._

 _The faunus bolted up the staircase to the second floor, his sharp eyes scanning for any movement as he ran. After reaching the top of the stairs, Tukson arrived outside the room the shots had been fired from. Barely wasting a second, the faunus intruder kicked the double doors clean off their hinges, he quickly looked around the room for any signs of life. The office was just as lavish and overdecorated as the rest of the mansion. A regal print carpet spread across the hardwood floor, in the corner a liquor cabinet sat with an open brandy bottle sitting on it. One side of the room was shelves filled top to bottom with books, this caught Tukson's attention for a moment, books had always been a bit of a vice for him, that fact hadn't changed over the years... even if he had. Not allowing the distraction, Tukson shifted his gaze to the opposite wall, what he saw made him raise his eyebrows in awe. Apparently, Drake was very passionate about his "work", hence the large glass case that displayed many expertly cut dust crystals taking up most of the wall space. Burn, Ice, Gravity, it was quite a collection, one that Tukson made a mental note to swipe before he left, always a use for free energy in the Fang. By the door Tukson had destroyed upon entry were a pair of tall stone statues depicting a beautiful -for a human- woman in a less than practical, but sensual pose._

 _And then there was Drake, he sat at an ornate wooden desk, in a chair just as exquisite. A large window covered the wall behind him, silhouetting him in the moonlight. Tukson noticed there was another, less fancy chair overturned on the floor in front of his desk, maybe he'd had a guest? Drake's head was hanging back, a large revolver was still clutched in his hand, but it hung uselessly at his side._

 _Approaching slowly, claws out, Tukson could make out a small trail of blood staining the left side of his lapel, ruining the designer suit jacket Drake had been wearing. One single stab wound, just like the other victims downstairs, but this one was less clean, the strike missed the heart by a couple inches, instead hitting one of Drake's lungs. Drake had suffered, most likely choking on his own blood, it had been a slow death, Tukson took some solace in that, but a part of him was furious._

 _This was HIS kill, someone had stolen it. He was so absorbed by his rage he didn't notice one of the statues by the door shift it's gaze onto him._

 _Tukson let out a frustrated sigh as he placed his hands on Drake's desk. The only thing left to do was look for clues as to who had done it, they couldn't have gone far, and if Tukson could pick up a scent he could try and track them. The faunus took a few quick sniffs of the air in the dark office, putting his enhanced animal senses to work. The whole place smelt like death, but there was something else in the air, a scent he hadn't noticed before, it was a faint hint of... chocolate... and strawberries? And there was something else too... a third smell... it was bland... but sweet, it almost smelt like vanil-_

 _Tukson's eye went wide as he dived to the side, a thin blade grazing his right arm. His aura flared to life around him, negating the damage as Tukson rolled into a low stance, claws extended, ready to strike. He glared at the assassin, contempt burning through his gaze as he took in the unlikely assailant, to say she was less than intimidating would be an understatement. She was... shorter than he'd expected, Tukson towered over the girl by a good foot at least. She was dressed in a shimmering pink gown that went down to the pair of matching high heels on her feet. A long slit ran up the side of the dress, stopping just short of her hip. The way she was dressed gave Tukson a hint as to just how she had gotten inside, she'd been invited. Drake had most likely invited this young woman over with less than noble intentions, but clearly the evening hadn't gone as he'd expected._

 _The mystery girl's hair was immaculate, platinum blonde and done up in a bun, her entire ensemble seemed a stark contrast to the grizzly scene the mansion was now host to, well, aside from the small blood splatter on the front of her dress. The woman's pose didn't seem overly threatening, one hand perched at her hip, the other was leaning on what looked like... an umbrella? An unconventional weapon to be certain, but Tukson had seen the blade, he knew there was more to it than what met the eye, much like it's wielder he imagined. Her expression almost looked bored, like a child who'd finished playing with all their toys and was anxious for a new one. She may not of looked imposing, but her cold blue eyes told a difference story, there was a look in them that Tukson found unnerving. This woman was a killer, not that it wasn't obvious at this point, but the way she looked at Tukson made it clear she wasn't finished tonight. Tukson understood the notion she was giving off, it wasn't much of an assassination if you left anyone to tell the tale._

 _No witnesses. Tukson thought. Guess we're on the same page there._

 _With that, the faunus lunged forward with a growl, sharp claws aiming to tear right through his new prey. The assassin didn't even flinch, even as Tukson's arm swung down, she remained still, her expression shifting slightly to one of amusement. Tukson didn't care, he'd rip this human in half, just like he would-_

 _The next series of events were difficult for Tukson to keep up with._

 _His claws hit the girl -he was sure they had- then there was a bright flash. Tukson felt something hit the side of his face, then another blow to the stomach made him bend forward, and finally he felt what he assumed was a foot hit him in the back of the head. The large faunus stumbled forward slightly, but he didn't fall. Tukson spun around to face his attacker, letting out a frustrated snarl. She was now sitting nonchalantly on Drakes desk, legs crossed, and her umbrella resting behind her head, the woman looked at Tukson and offered a small patronizing smile. It made his blood boil, the fact that she clearly didn't view Tukson as a threat, but as he looked at her his anger turned to confusion._

 _When the hell had she changed clothes?!_

 _The dress and styled hair were gone, instead the assassin wore a low cut white jacket with pink around the collar and the ends of it's long sleeves. The jacket hung low in the back, but in the front it left her midriff covered only by a brown corset of some kind. The rest of her outfit was unremarkable by comparison, brown pants and white high heeled boots, which Tukson was pretty sure had a footprint that matched the welt forming on the back of his head._

 _But her hair, her new hair that is, was by far her most noticeable trait. The blonde locks were gone, replaced with brown and pink, split right above her left eye and cascading down to her chest. Speaking of which, her eyes still had that same playful/psychotic gleam to them, but instead of shining blue irises, the assassin had one pink eye and one brown. Tukson had to hold back a gasp of surprise when the girl blinked and her eyes seemed to change sides, or rather the color of her eyes did._

 _She raised and eyebrow at the faunus, if he wasn't mistaken, it almost looked like this woman was challenging him, it was like her look was saying, "Care to try that again?" A younger, more naive Tukson might have taken the bait, and for what it's worth, he was tempted, but he knew better now. He'd underestimated his opponent, that wouldn't happen again. Tukson's hand hovered over the metal object at his hip, but he relented, no need to use a bazooka to kill an insect. Instead he eyed the overturned chair on the floor in front of him from the corner of his vision and the gears started turning in his head._

 _He kept his eyes locked onto the mysterious woman as he slowly began to approach her menacingly, making it look like he'd fallen for her taunt and was going in for another attack. But before he could get within arms reach, he hooked his foot around the chair on the ground and kicked it across the short distance between himself and the assassin. Predictably, the girl twirled to the side, avoiding the chair, Drakes corpse wasn't as lucky and was knocked clean out of his resting place. The girls dodge played right into Tukson's hand, and before she could complete her movement, Tukson swung his claw's right at her face... and hit nothing but air. The girl had merely leaned back and dodged again. Tukson slammed a foot on the ground to reverse his momentum, and swung his other hand full of sharp claw's, the results were unsurprisingly similar to his first attack._

 _Tukson momentarily gave into frustration and continued swinging wild claw swipes at the woman. But, like she was engaged in an elegant dance, the girl maneuvered around every blow effortlessly. Eventually he got sloppy, and for that he caught the handle of the woman's umbrella under his chin._

 _Tukson was staggered, then he felt three quick blade strikes to his chest, his aura blocked them, but it wouldn't hold out forever. The faunus was actually beginning to feel a little overwhelmed, it wasn't a feeling he was accustomed too. He had to think of someway to turn the tide in his favor, so as the woman swung her weapon for a fourth strike, Tukson wrapped both of his giant hands around the umbrella, stopping it mid-swing. The woman gave Tukson an impressed look, before trying to tug her weapon free of his iron grip, but Tukson just grasped it tighter._

 _Tukson grinned behind his mask, "Let's see how tough you are without your little-"_

 _Suddenly, the umbrella popped open, catching Tukson off guard and forcing him to let go. He lost his balance for only a second, but that was all the opening the assassin needed._

 _Tukson's eyes went wide as the world seemed to slow down. He saw everything._

 _The wild look in the woman's eye._

 _The blade popping out of the tip of the umbrella._

 _The sinister smirk that played across her face as she thrust forward with all her might._

 _There was a flash of gold as Tukson's aura was shattered._

 _For a moment, the faunus just stood there, dumbstruck. Then he looked down and stared at the needle like blade sticking into his chest, a thin line of blood flowing up the blade._

 _A perfect strike, right through his heart._

 _Tukson raised his head slowly, the woman was close to him still, her hand on the weapons hilt. She had a strange look in her mismatched eyes, she almost looked disappointed. By this point, pain was finally finding it's way to Tukson's shocked brain, he reached his hands up towards the umbrella to attempt to dislodge it, but the woman merely pushed the blade in deeper, twisting it slightly and causing the tip of it to poke out the faunus back. With a pained gasp, Tukson let his arms fall to his side, and his head lull forward. The assassin let out a sigh, the first sound she'd made during the whole encounter, before she brutally yanked the weapon out of the faunus' chest. For a moment, Tukson remained standing on shaky legs, wobbling back and forth, before the woman poked her index finger against his forehead, causing him to fall backwards onto Drake's desk, a small pool of blood collecting under him._

* * *

 _The assassin let out another sigh as she looked over the faunus body draped across the desk._

 _How boring, she thought to herself. First Drake had failed to impress her, and then there was the overwhelming disappointment that was his private security, the whole evening had been lackluster for her. She'd sincerely hoped this unexpected newcomer might help salvage the night, she could tell he had fight in him, as soon as she'd seen his eyes. A faunus, not only that, but a member of the White Fang no less! Very interesting, but alas, turns out he was all spark, no heat._

 _The pink and brown haired girl spun on her heel and began to leave the room. Her job was done, Drake was no longer a threat to her employers business plans. She pulled a pink handkerchief out of her pocket and began to wipe the blood off her blade as she walked. She'd gotten done faster than expected, the night was still young, maybe she could go out and get some dinner before heading back, she felt like she'd earned-_

 _There was a groan behind her. She slowly turned to see the "dead" faunus sitting up._

 _Impossible, she knew where she'd hit him, and she never missed, not unless she was dragging things out. Despite this, there he was, staring back at her, his eyes full of the same venom they had a few minutes ago._

 _Don't know when to quit do you? She thought to herself._

 _The faunus wasn't making any moves, most likely the last bit of their adrenaline was all that was keeping them going, it was the only explanation that came to mind. The woman began swinging her parasol around her finger as she smirked at the wounded intruder, annoying as it was, she was mildly impressed he could even move after her attack, let alone breathe. However, it was still annoying, she had reputation to keep after all, and this interloper wasn't getting out of here alive._

 _There was no sense dragging this out, she dashed across the room in an instant, lodging her umbrellas blade deep into the faunus' stomach this time, causing him to let out a wet cough. She'd impale every organ in his body if she had to, but she never got the chance._

 _A pair of strong hands wrapped around her wrist's on the weapons hilt, before ripping her hand's away from the parasoul. The unsupported umbrella slipped out of the man's torso and clattered as it hit the floor. The woman's eyes went white, she looked up and saw the sick amusement in the man's feline eyes, the blood red maw on his face mask adding to the intimidation she suddenly felt._

 _The faunus let out a chuckle, "Gotcha," he said in a dark voice. Without another word, he swung the girl by her arm, and with very little effort, threw her into the book covered wall._

 _The girls semblance was a powerful one, she could use it to fake many things, her appearance, where she was standing, she could even use it to forge documents and get her into secure areas, but getting hurled like a rag doll into a shelf full of books by a giant of a man? That wasn't possible to fake, as she found out when her spine made contact with the unforgiving hardwood bookshelf, splintering it on impact. Aura could only do so much to lessen the force of the throw, and for the first time that night, she found herself on the floor. She groaned as she tried to stand and pain shot through her back, she needed a minute, but the faunus wasn't about to give her one._

* * *

 _Tukson rubbed the still tender spot where he'd been stabbed, dabbing away the slowing flow of blood, this assassin wasn't the only one with a few tricks up their sleeve. The first wound was already starting to heal, and his semblance was making sure the one in his stomach wouldn't be far behind, doesn't mean it didn't hurt like hell though. It didn't matter though, Tukson began to approach to slowly rising woman, this was his chance to end this. He knelt down near her and grasped both his hands around her small throat. The girl's eye's went white again, Tukson was beginning to recognize that color represented fear, she was afraid._

 ** _Good._**

 _Tukson tightened his grip, the assassin began to kick wildly and clawed at Tukson's mitts with her much smaller hands with little effect. After a few moments the multi-colored haired girl's eyes started to roll back in her head, her complexion becoming darker as the life was choked out of her. The woman's struggles became weaker as her eyes fluttered shut._

 _Tukson leaned in closer to her face. "Let's see you flip and twirl your way out of th-"_

 _Once again, Tukson was interrupted. Somehow, the mystery girl had managed to worm one of her legs up and delivered the pointed heel of her boot to the overpowering faunus' chin, knocking his mask off in the process. The kick didn't do a lot of damage, but it provided just enough space for the assassin to separate Tukson's hand's from her throat._

 _After filling her lungs with precious air again, she gripped one of Tukson's arms and wrapped her legs around it. She pulled herself up the limb slightly so her right leg's shin was placed under his chin, over his throat. Then she wrapped her other leg around the back of Tukson's head, and she began tugging hard on the faunus arm, applying pressure to his windpipe._

 _Suddenly Tukson found himself on the receiving end of a choke-hold. The assassin sneered up at him as he tried to detach her from their position on the ground. Tukson swung his claws on his free hand at her, but the angle was awkward, and the girl kept leaning just out of reach. His struggles did manage make a long slash down the side of her pant leg, even managing to draw blood, but all this accomplished was making the woman press harder into Tukson's throat in response to the pain._

 _Tukson's strength was fading fast, he knew he had to make a move before things got worse. He shakily managed to get one of his legs under him, then the other, all while the pint-sized killer on his arm choked him. Slowly he picked her up with his still captive appendage, and with what strength he had left, he swung her at the bookcase again._

 _Once, twice, three times he did this, and all that happened was the woman's grip loosened for a half a second each time, before she redoubled her efforts to bring the taller man down. This girl was strong, far more than her outward appearance portrayed._

 _Tukson's head was starting to swim, his legs felt like jelly, he knew if he fell down now, it was all over. He desperately scanned his surroundings for anything he could use, from the corner of his eye he saw something shiny, several shiny things actually. The display case full of dust crystals! He just had to get there. The relentless faunus dragged himself across then room to the glass window, his vision darkening from of the lack of oxygen going to his brain. When he finally thought he was close enough, he put all his remaining strength into one final swing towards the glass case._

 _There was a crash, a yelp of pain, and then the sound of glass littering the floor. Tukson felt the pressure on his airway disappear, as he finally allowed himself to fall to his knees. He gasped for air, bringing a hand to his throat, his body greedily taking in the oxygen it'd been deprived of. He could feel the shards of glass that had embedded themselves into his arm, warm blood gathering under the sleeve of his jacket, there wasn't much he could do about them for now, his semblance wouldn't be able to heal it properly until he removed the pieces. His vision slowly became clearer, there was a sound like glass crunching under someone's feet as they scrambled away from him, for a moment Tukson thought his foe was retreating, but when he looked up, she was still there._

 _Her pink and brown hair was a tangled mess, a thin line of blood led from her hairline down her left cheek. Besides the other small cuts over her body, Tukson could see the long gash he'd made down her pant leg, blood starting to stain her dark pants. One arm was wrapped around her midsection, supporting the side that Tukson had been feverishly slamming into the wall a few moments ago, the other arm was pointing her long thin blade coming out of the top of her parasol at the faunus. Her once carefree expression was warped into a face filled to the brim with malice, her mismatched eyes, one pink and one white, burned a whole through him._

 _Tukson looked at this woman, the complete polar opposite of what she'd been when she'd first appeared. She looked like hell, though he doubted he looked much better. As he rose to his feet, he couldn't help but smile. He had a clear height and weight advantage over the tiny warrior woman, anyone else would be limping away at this point, ready to call it a loss and be happy to have gotten away with their life. Not this one though, no, her gaze was steely, and her resolve was unwavering._

 _Tukson felt something deep inside himself, but he wasn't able to identify the feeling just yet. As he observed his opponent, he began to notice things about her he hadn't before. He'd originally had the misconception that she was much younger than she actually was, he might have even thought she was a teenager, however now her eyes conveyed a sense of experience and grief that could only come from a longer life. He couldn't place her exact age, but if he had to guess, she was probably only a few years younger than himself. Through rips in the sleeves of her coat he could see the lean muscle that was no doubt the result of the training that led to her holding her own this evening, not to mention the way her outfit clung to her figure, the sweat of their battle causing it to fully show off the curves of her-_

 _Tukson shook his head, clearing the distracting -and honestly, a little embarrassing- thoughts from his head, but when he looked back, he noticed the assassin doing her own appraisal of the faunus. She smirked and touched her fingers to the side of her chin, tapping the spot. Tukson raised his own hand to his face in confusion, until he realized his mask was gone, that's what she was alluding to. He watched the assassins eyes roam over his body, she smiled, and then winked at the faunus. Tukson felt that strange feeling in his stomach again, was she... flirting with him?_

 _Nope. No. Tukson had no time for this... this... whatever this was. She was a human, she'd interfered with his mission here tonight, and nearly killed him, it was time to stop messing around._

 _He reached for the device at his hip, wrapping his hand around it, immediately it's familiar weight helped ease some of his fatigue. With a flourish, the weapon unfolded from it's compact frame with a series of metallic clinks, taking the form of a large axe, it's sharp curved edge shining in the moonlight. Tukson smiled as he held his axe out in front of him with both hands, he hadn't had an excuse to use it in a long time, he'd missed the feeling of it._

 _The mystery woman however, looked unimpressed by his display, and gave his weapon a shrug, but then Tukson saw that the collection of dust crystals had fallen at his feet during their altercation. A burn crystal in particular caught his eye, and his grin grew wider. In one motion, he swept the rock off the floor and slammed it forcefully into the top of his axe, the woman raised a single eyebrow at this, and then both together when the axe's blade was engulfed in fire. Without another word, Tukson swung his flaming weapon in an upward arc, surprising the assassin as a wave of fire raced toward her from the swing._

 _She didn't move, instead the second the inferno touched her, she shattered like glass into hundreds of pieces. Tukson was baffled, then he heard the sound of glass crunching to his left and immediately intercepted a blow from his foe with the still smoking axe. Several quick blows were exchanged between the two, sparks flying with each strike. Tukson's blows were slower now, but his multicolored enemy was becoming less precise with hers, they were both feeling the effects of their brutal fight as it took a toll on their bodies._

 _After another quick flurry of blows, the assassin leaped back, and for a moment, they both stopped. The large fire that had been the result of Tukson's earlier attack was beginning to spread, the flames illuminating the two for the first time. No longer fighting in darkness, the smile on both their faces was apparent._

 _Tukson was breathing heavily, he hadn't had to push himself like this in a while, and he'd bet that the same could be said for his opponent. The woman's breathes were ragged as well, sweat running down her face, but still her expression was that same damn grin she had worn the majority of the night._

 _The faunus chuckled, "Guess I'm not the only one having a good time."_

 _The girl's smile widened._

 _"... My name's Tukson," the faunus' introduction seemed to catch the assassin off guard, she gave the faunus a confused look. After a moment he continued, "It's been a long time since I've had to use this thing," Tukson said, gesturing to the axe he was still pointing at her, "and I'd almost forgotten what it feels like to be this exhausted. All in all, I'd say it's been a fun night," Tukson took a chance and lowered his weapon for a moment, "but I think we both know that only one of us is walking out of here, right?"_

 _The silent woman nodded, the smile she wore turned slightly malicious._

 _"Good," Tukson responded, "so, how about a name? Think of it as something for me to remember you by."_

 _The woman gave Tukson an incredulous look, squinting at the faunus, seemingly trying to figure out what kind of trick he was pulling, she didn't seem to trust easy._

 _Oh well, worth a shot, Tukson thought disappointingly._

 _But just when he thought the fight would continue,_

 _"...Neo."_

 _Tukson's eyes widened in surprise. She'd spoke, for the first time since this all started. Her voice almost sounded hoarse, like she wasn't used to using it, this girl- Neo, was full of mysteries it seemed, why did he find that so fascinating?_

 _"Neo? Hmm. Short and easy to remember, it suits you," the faunus joked. Neo narrowed her eyes at him, her gaze more playful than bloodthirsty at this point, "what do you say we finish this, Neo?"_

 _Neo didn't need a written invitation, she lunged forward blade first, with a animal-like growl, Tukson did the same, fire erupting from his axe. Both of them were having the time of their lives._ _And so the fight continued, the sound of weapons clashing, glass shattering, and roaring flames filled the mansion. Tukson had developed an immense amount of respect for Neo, this strange woman he'd only just met -and whom had impaled him less than an hour ago- but they were both professionals, here to do a job, and couldn't afford to leave any witnesses. They both understood the practicalities of there work, but for Tukson, this had gone far beyond the simple assassination of a scumbag human. This was about his pride, as a member of the White Fang, Tukson had a great deal of that at stake, and it showed as he rained blow after blow down on the small girls incredibly durable umbrella._

 _As the burly faunus delivered a particularly viscous downward strike, he watched as Neo's image shattered again, but not before she delivered another mischievous wink. Tukson wasn't sure why, until he heard a "chink" sound and felt his fire axe split something before it embedded itself in the wooden floor, a dark purple crystal laid broken in half at his feet, Tukson immediately recognized the element of dust with a sense of dread._

 _Gravity, he thought as the bottom fell out of his stomach._

 _Dust had proven to be a reliable source of energy over the years. In it's refined crystal form, it was stable, controllable, and made life easier for all of humanity. But if misused, intentionally or not, or if say, someone sliced a large chunk of one of the most dangerous and volatile elements of dust in half with an axe coated in flames, the results can be a little on the catastrophic side._

 _A wave of purple light spread across the floor, dark energy crackling on the objects it passed over, including the several other flavors of dust near it. Tukson looked up, and there was Neo, looking very proud of herself as she lifted her umbrella, almost like a shield. Tukson found out why, when all the remaining dust crystals started to glow, natures wrath brimming inside them. Tukson quickly tried to dislodge his axe, but before he could, all the dust fragments were raised into the air, then they were slammed into the ceiling, causing a chain reaction._

 _The explosion was massive. Fire, ice, wind, lightning, all the elements erupting from their crystal prisons at once, filling the former office of Drake Ivey.  
_

* * *

 _Neo's parasol managed to block the energy of the explosion, but not the force of it, and the small girl was sent flying through the doorway of the room. She landed with a thud, sliding several feet on her back into the hallway, just the newest in a long list of injuries she'd suffered that night. She propped herself up on her elbows with a groan as she took in the results of her plan._

 _The office was completely engulfed in fire, the element seemed to win out in the explosion. One of the wooden beams holding up the ceiling came crashing down, shooting embers into the hallway, promising to create more flames in their wake. Neo struggled to her feet, worn out but not beaten, she couldn't say the same for her opponent though, no way he'd survived that. The assassin felt a twinge of pity as she watched the room burn, it'd been a long time since she'd felt anything like that for anyone, but this "Tukson" had put up one hell of a fight, best she'd had in years if she was honest, and she'd given him everything she'd had. As far as death's go, it wasn't a bad one, it'd been quick... probably. Neo was about to turn around, but then the debris in the office started to move._

 _You've GOT to be kidding me. Neo thought to herself, bringing up her weapon, not willing to be caught off guard again. Just how tough is this guy?_

 _Neo got her answer when a flame covered Tukson pounced out of the inferno and tackled her before she could mount a counter-attack or even think about putting up an illusion. The force of Tukson's assault made the two fall backwards, right through the railing, sending them careening over the edge to the floor below._

 _As they fell, Neo did her best to separate the two of them, or at least make it so that Tukson's still burning body broke her fall. She got a couple clean punches in, but to no effect, to be fair, Tukson was on fire, his mind was a little too preoccupied to feel anything else at that point._

 _With a sickening thud, both human and faunus hit the ground. Neo's struggle had managed to make them land on their side, so they both took the brunt of the fall, thankfully, the force of the landing helped put out the remaining flames on Tukson's body. For a while neither of them moved, they were as still as any of the other corpses in the house, but then, the smaller of the two rose wearily._

 _Once at her feet, Neo's steps were unsteady as she began to walk away, the small woman stopped momentarily, spitting out a mouthful of blood before continuing. On the floor Tukson's still smoking body opened it's eyes, and then immediately closed them. He tried to move, but his body wasn't responding correctly. Eventually Tukson forced himself to lift his head off the floor, and he saw the small figure walking away from him._

 _"This isn't over..." he said, struggling to keep his head up, "you hear me, Neo?"_

 _Neo turned around, a look of disbelief of her face. He really wasn't going to give up was he?_

 _From his position on the floor, Tukson continued, "If you think... you can just walk away, you're wrong... you better finish me off..." Tukson's head finally fell back, his strength exhausted, he closed his eyes. He continued speaking, almost delirious at this point, "otherwise... otherwise, I'll find you... I'll hunt you down... you won't be able to hide from me..."_

 _Tukson heard the sound of footsteps approaching, but he couldn't move, he couldn't even find the strength to open his eyes. So this was it, this is how his story ended, not a bad finale he supposed, killed by a worthy opponent, someone he respected. Though now that he thought about it, maybe respect was the wrong word? He... admired Neo? Some might find it weird that he'd feel that way about someone whom he'd spent the last hour beating the hell out of each other with, but nothing about Tukson's life had been normal, so why should that change when it came to meeting women?_

 _The footsteps stopped near Tukson's head. The faunus let out a short laugh, cut short when he felt pain shoot through his side, he made a note not to do that again, not that it'd matter much longer. He must be delirious, to be thinking about a human this way._

 _... Maybe... in a different time, in a different life, they could have-_

 _It was at that point Tukson noticed he wasn't dead yet. He cracked an eye open, expecting to see the goddess of death wielding an umbrella above him. Instead, he saw Neo bent over, leaning in close to his face, staring into his golden eyes with a pair of matching pink ones._

 _"You'll track me down, huh?" the mysterious girl asked. She giggled softly, clutching her side as she did,"Okay then, it's a date."_

 _She smiled down on Tukson, then without warning she leaned in and gently pecked her lips on Tukson's forehead._

 _Tukson could only stare back, dumbstruck._

 _And with one final wink, Neo disappeared in a blinding flash. Then Tukson blacked out._

* * *

Tukson's eyes shot open, he sat up on the couch of his small apartment. He felt an odd tightness in his chest... he'd been dreaming... but about what? He racked his brain, but it was gone. The feelings weren't though, he raised a hand to his chest, under his shirt was a small scar that sat just over his heart. He massaged the area gently with his fingers and smiled. Yeah, he could guess what -or who- he'd been dreaming about.

Tukson heard what sounded like someone rustling around with pots and pans in his kitchen. Oreonna must be up and making breakfast-

Tukson's eye's nearly popped out of his head.

Oh god, Oreonna was up and making breakfast.

The horror of the situation finally dawned on him, all remnants of sleep ripped from his body. Almost on cue, there was a crash in the kitchen, combined with a burnt smell in the air, and a cute voice saying a not so cute word. The older faunus couldn't resist an eye roll, he'd better get in there before she triggers the smoke alarms again.

Tukson lifted himself off the couch, when had he fallen asleep on it? The still tired faunus racked his brain to solve this mystery. He'd been up late working on his... side project, he came up from the office at around... 3am? And then he sat on the couch to rest for a moment, and then... okay, the mystery wasn't as grand and elaborate as he thought it was.

He walked into the kitchen just in time to see Oreonna fanning smoke out the open window, the frying pan creating it was still sizzling in her hand. As she held it, her cat ears were twitching in annoyance and her long tail swung to and fro. Her black, sleeveless t-shirt and grey pajama pants had spots of flour all over them. It was all too adorable for Tukson to stand, he wish he had a camera, even if his daughter would hate it.

"Stupid stove, stupid batter. Why can't dust be as easy to cook with as it is to fight with?" Oreonna complained to herself. Her father cleared his throat, causing the cat faunus to jump, and the pan she was holding clattered onto the counter top. "D-dad! I was just... uh..." She looked around at the mess she'd made in the kitchen, and smiled innocently. "... breakfast?" she said presenting the smoking pan to her father.

Tukson took a couple long strides over to look into the pan. "Just breakfast, huh?" He spoke, observing the nearly black... what he assumed was once a pancake? With eight long pieces extending from the center mass, and two small lumps at the top. "That's sweet of you, Oreo, but why is it shaped like a spider?"

Oreonna sighed and spoke softly, "It was supposed to be a cat face..."

"O-oh! Of course! I see that now!" Tukson said, trying to save it, but his daughters expression showed his attempt was in vain. He wrapped an arm around his daughter and pulled her close, "So, making your old man breakfast, huh? What's the occasion?" he said, trying to change the subject.

"Well, y'know... I might not have a chance to make it for you for a while..." Oreonna responded a little sadly. Tukson raised an eyebrow at this, his mind drew a blank. "Wait... did you forget? Seriously?" she asked, giving her father a skeptical look.

Then it hit him. This was the day, the day his daughter would be heading off to Vacuo, to Shade. Tukson felt the uneasiness he had begun to associate with the situation reassert itself inside him. "Of course I didn't forget!" Tukson lied... badly. "I just... uh..."

"You were just up all night working and fried your brain, then passed out on the couch." Oreonna finished, scowling slightly. "You aren't exactly building my confidence on the whole 'I'll be fine without you' front."

Tukson felt guilt wash over him. He had promised that he'd take better care of himself in his daughters absence, "You're right," He admitted, "tell you what, you take another stab at breakfast, and I'll go get cleaned up like a responsible adult would, sound good?"

"Sure, I'll see what I can throw together that won't involve me burning down the apartment," Oreonna said as she scraped her pancake monstrosity into the trash can.

With that, Tukson stepped into his room, it was smaller than Oreonna's, but she needed the space more than he did. His bed was still made, unslept in obviously, and he had a small dresser next to it as well as a personal bathroom with a shower that was calling his name. As he began to prepare himself for the big day, he couldn't help but feel like the time was going by too fast. It was three weeks ago that Oreonna had gotten in contact with Eden Evergreen and set up the meeting to sign the necessary paperwork for the scholarship to Shade she was receiving. All the while, the deer faunus wore a cocky smile, as if she'd known all along that she'd be hearing from Oreonna again. Once all the signing was done, Eden shook Oroenna's hand and said that the cat girl's airship to the academy would leave in a month, and she looked forward to seeing her in Vacuo. Just like that, it was official, there was no backing out now. The next several weeks had been spent picking up Oreonna's school supplies -quite a lengthy list in Tukson's opinion, but seeing as how his daughter was getting a free ride, he figured he could deal with a few expenses- and saying goodbye to her friends. Yang was obviously less than thrilled that Oreonna wouldn't be joining her at Beacon, but she knew the black and white haired faunus had to follow her own path to becoming a huntress and as much as she hated to see her go, she wished her friend nothing but the best. Also, any sadness the blonde brawler might have felt was overpowered by her excitement at the fact that her younger sister Ruby would apparently be joining her at the combat school instead. Through a series of events that Tukson wasn't one hundred percent clear on, the young girl was being advanced two years ahead. Something about a robbery, property damage, and fireworks? Kids these days.

Now all that was left was the waiting, by far the worst part. Luckily, Tukson had his own project to keep him busy in the meantime, the White Fang issue still weighed heavy on his mind. He'd been gathering information for the past month, by day he prepared his daughter for her education, and by night he was staking out warehouses and trying to track White Fang movements in Vale. Dust robberies were on the rise, which meant they weren't laying low anymore, things were about to escalate, so he had to push himself harder. At least he wasn't doing it alone anymore, Tukson had reached out to a few old friends for help, many didn't return his calls, others turned him down because they just weren't up for the fight, it didn't do much to raise Tukson's hopes about their chances. He did hear back from a few that had agreed to help however they could, even a couple of former huntsmen were on his side, it was nice to know he wasn't the only one taking the threat seriously.

Unfortunately, for all the help he'd received, he had to wait for the White Fang to make the next move. Rushing in would only get people on his side killed, they were only a few, a ragtag group at best, and the White fang had an army. They'd be crushed in an instant if they tried anything, he didn't want that, obviously, so.. it looked like all he could do was wait with that too... fantastic.

As Tukson finished getting changed, he saw something else he'd been waiting for. On his dresser sat a small golded locket, not fancy or expensive looking, just a tarnished old piece of jewelry on a string, but it meant the world to Tukson, and he hoped to give it to Oreonna before she left. The only problem would be whether or not she'd accept it, he doubted it'd go well... but he was out of time. If he procrastinated now, Oreonna would be gone for at least four years, he might never get the chance.

He took a breath to build up his confidence and picked up the small trinket in his giant hand. He stepped back into the kitchen, at the small table sat his daughter with a bowl of Pumpkin Pete's cereal in front of her, another was placed at the spot across from her. She smiled sheepishly at her father, Tukson smiled back, well at least the kitchen was in one piece. He sat down at the empty seat opposite his daughter as she dug into her cereal, Tukson sat there for a moment, struggling to think of a way to bring up the locket. Just go for it? Sure, why not.

"So... I have something for you... a going away present, I guess," he said nervously.

Oreonna's head perked up, "Really? What is it?" she said swallowing a mouthful of cereal.

Tukson reached across the table, taking his daughters hand and placing the locket in her palm. Oreonna held the trinket by it's string and observed it with bright eyes, "Oooooo, shiny!" Oreonna's eyes sparkled.

Tukson smiled at his daughter's reaction, he hoped it would last, but part of him knew better, "Glad you like it... it was your mothers..." Tukson practically whispered the last part.

Instantly, Oreonna froze up, and then her expression became grim. She placed the locket on the table and carefully slid it towards her father, "Then I don't want it," she stated plainly.

Tukson's fears were realized. "Oreo, I know how you feel about her, but I really think she'd want you to have it."

Oreonna's face turned sour, she seemed more focused on stirring her cereal than talking about this. When she finally responded, her tone was devoid of emotion. "Why? She clearly didn't want me..."

Tukson felt a pain in his heart at his daughters words. As a child, obviously Oreonna had asked about her absent mom, Tukson had dodged the subject as long as he could, but she was relentless. He always promised her that he'd tell her when she was older, but when Oreonna turned 13, officially a 'grown up' in her words, Tukson knew he was out of time. So he told her, not everything mind you, he left out the parts about what he'd done with the Fang, as well as Neo's actions, but told her everything else. He may have spiced up the stories a bit, a little excitement to bring Oreonna's mother to life in the young girl's mind, it turned out a lifetime of reading books had given him a knack for storytelling. Oreonna was enthralled by the tales at first, but then Tukson got to the part about how he had found Oreonna on his doorstep in the middle of the night, in the rain, all alone, and Oreonna chose to focus intently on this part of his story. She felt abandoned by Neo, once she'd found out what had happened, the cat girl decided she wanted nothing to do with the woman that she refused to call mother.

Tukson didn't entirely blame her for feeling that way, as much as he wanted to give Neo the benefit of the doubt, he had no idea why she did what she did. But if he could at least just convince his daughter not to hate her, he'd be happy. Neo had left that locket in the basket with Oreonna for a reason, it was obvious to him why, he just had to make his daughter see it too.

Tukson put his hand on the locket and slid it back towards Oreonna, who looked at it with disdain, all previous signs of joy and wonder at the golden object had disappeared. "Just... look inside, okay? Just once? for me?" Tukson begged.

Oreonna stared back at her father, her gaze softened a bit at the sad look he was giving her, "Fine," she didn't so much say the words as she spat them.

Oreonna held the locket in her hands like it was some kind of insect she was both interested and disgusted with, then she opened the small latch on the front and her face changed from disgust to confusion. Tukson knew the small, faded, black and white picture inside well. It was Neo, sitting on a hospital bed, clean white sheets covered her lower body, she sat up with a pillow supporting her. She looked exhausted, her hair was a mess, and her eyelids hung heavily. But the reason Tukson wanted his daughter to see the photo was the baby in her arms, the tiny kitten ears on the top of the newborns head were a clear giveaway as to the babies identity. Tukson watched Oreonna's face go through a series of emotions as she looked at it, and it was then that he realized his daughter had never actually seen a picture of her mother before, hell, that was the only one Tukson had, Neo wasn't exactly the most photogenic person. Aside from his stories, Oreonna had no idea what Neo even looked like, it was obviously a lot for the young faunus to take in, Tukson hoped he wasn't pushing to hard.

Eventually Oreonna's eyes left the photo and she focused on her father again, she... still looked a little upset unfortunately, "So?" Oreonna blankly stated, "I was a baby once, she gave birth to me, exactly what part of this is supposed to be a life changing revelation?"

Tukson's frown deepened at his daughters cold comment, but he didn't give up hope yet. "I want you to really look at it." Tukson said. "Look at your m- at Neo."

Oreonna gave her father an annoyed look, her patience on the subject was running thin, but she obeyed. She began studying the picture more intently, looking over Neo's clothes, her hair, her eyes- she stopped there. There was something about the way Neo was looking at Oreonna's infant self.

"Neo was never much for words," Tukson said, noticing the change in his daughters face, a fondness filled his voice, "but to me, her eyes always spoke more than any words could." Oreonna looked deep into the photo, Neo's eyes -even in black and white- seemed to shine and convey a sense of pride and genuine adoration as she looked down at the cat eared child in her arms. It was as if nothing else in the world mattered to the woman, The undying love between a mother and her child was obvious. "I know it's been tough, Oreo, growing up without a mom, trust me, I know the feeling," Tukson frowned slightly, memories of his own mother and just how rough his life had been after she died. "It might seem like Neo never cared about you, but just consider this," the cat girl looked up at her father attentively, "she still had you. At any point after she found out she was pregnant she could have... the point is, she WANTED you. Yes, she left, and that's horrible, but she still went through with everything, being pregnant, childbirth, she took care of you for almost a year, Oreonna. That means something, it means some part of her wanted it work out, but it just... didn't."

Tukson saw the corner of his daughters mouth twitch slightly, before she gently closed the locket, "Then why'd she leave..." Oreonna said, voice low, her eyes staring at the locket in her hand. "I mean, if she cared that much about me, why'd she just..."

"Oreonna... I'm not going to try and justify what she did," Tukson said, choosing his words carefully, "in fact, if there's one thing I resent Neo for it's making you feel like you were ever unwanted," Tukson swallowed the lump forming in his throat, "but Neo lived a dangerous life..." Oreonna's head snapped up at this, Tukson could practically feel the million questions forming in his daughters mind. Tukson knew he had to be careful of what he revealed about their past, he didn't want to outright lie either, so he settled for a half truth. "She did some things before I met her, things I know she regrets, even if she never admitted it, but I don't think for a second that she wanted to get you involved in that kind of life." Tukson reached across the table and placed one of his large hands under Oreonna's smaller ones, still holding the locket. "Sometimes... when you love someone, you have to hide your bad side from them... even if that means pushing them away... or keeping them in the dark about certain things. It doesn't mean you don't care about them, just that you don't want to see them get hurt because of you," gently, Tukson used his other hand to close Oreonna's around the locket.

"That's not a very nice thing to do to someone important to you," Oreonna said with a bit of spite, not looking at her father or the piece of jewelry anymore.

"No... it's not," Tukson said, regret building in him, this was becoming less about Neo and more about his own sins, but he continued, "but sometimes we don't have a choice. Yeah, it doesn't seem fair, but life is just... like that sometimes." Oreonna looked unconvinced. Tukson waited a moment before he kept speaking, "I'm not asking you to forgive her, you don't even have to like her," Tukson slowly removed his hands, and to his relief, his daughters hand remained closed, clutching the golden locket, "but if you could just find it in your heart not to hate her, that would be enough for me." There, he'd said his piece, it was up to his daughter now. Tukson held his breath.

Oreonna sighed deeply, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she looked from her closed hand to her father once more, a complicated look on her face. "I'll... think about it" she said, sliding the locket into her pocket.

And that was that, it wasn't much, but that was all Tukson was gonna get, it was good enough for him. He wouldn't press the issue anymore, Oreonna took the locket, that's all he wanted. She didn't have to treasure it, as long as she held onto that small piece of her mother, he'd be happy. He may never be able to repair the damage Neo had done by leaving her, but at least he could prevent the rift between Neo and Oreonna from getting any bigger.

Breakfast continued silently after that point. Tukson and his daughter picked at there cereal, the mood effectively soured. Tukson hoped things improved before Oreonna and him had to leave, her airship was scheduled to depart in just a few hours. But deep down, Tukson wondered if his speech about "protecting someone you love" was asking for forgiveness for Neo, or himself. Unbeknownst to his daughter, he was more or less guilty of the same crimes Neo was, but she had only disappointed her daughter once when she'd left, Tukson had been lying to Oreonna for almost her entire life. If she found out, would she ever forgive him?

Did he even _deserve_ her forgiveness?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **A/N-** _So there we have it, the fateful meeting of Tukson and Neo, and nothing bad ever happened after that. :)_

 _I know Literal Sundae is weird, but I'm you guys are on board for it._

 _Next up- We get to see the other end of their relationship! It's gonna be sad! Ya!_

 _Some people have asked: Why Shade and not Beacon? And honestly, without sounding like too much of an ass, I think I'm just sick of fics that take place at Beacon during the events of volume 1 of RWBY. It's not a bad place to start, and you can begin your story anywhere you want, by no means do I have any right to criticize anyone about what they want to write about, but I guess my thought process was, "What kind of story would I want to read"._

 _So yeah, Shade. I hope you guys like my non canon rendition of the academy... you know, until we get there in the actual series and my head-canons are shot out of the water like an innocent baby seal._

 _So yeah, nothing against Beacon, it's a fine place -well it was anyway- and I'm sure we'll get back to it someday in this story. I mean, some stuff goes down in the beginning Volume 2 that miiiiiiight just effect Oreonna... sometimes the future refuses to change._

 _;P_


	5. Time To Say Goodbye

**Chapter 5- Time To Say Goodbye**

Before Tukson and Oreonna knew it, they were both sitting at a gate in the Vale International Airport. They were both quiet, the full reality of the situation was finally dawning on them: Oreonna was leaving, for at least four years for now and most likely much longer once she became an officially licensed huntress. Tukson had always known this day was coming, ever since Oreonna had enrolled at Signal Academy, but now that it was here his heart felt unbelievable heavy.

"So... I better not come home and find out you turned my bedroom into... I don't know, a weight lifting room, or a zen garden, or some other type of mid-life crisis project," Oreonna joked halfheartedly, her usually chipper mood was also being affected by the vibe in the air.

Tukson let out a short, but genuine laugh, "Too late, the contractors will be at the apartment in about a half hour," his daughter smiled back at him, he felt the tightness inside of his chest increase.

There was so much he wanted to say to her, but at this moment his thoughts were all jumbled and he just couldn't find the words. Tukson had never felt so powerless before, he was always horrible at goodbyes...

* * *

 _Tukson hated Mistral in the summertime, the humid air seemed to make everything sticky, every breath he took made him feel heavier somehow, not to mention the heat. His location in the kingdom didn't help, the wetlands of the southern continent were possibly the least desirable location in all four of the kingdoms._

 _The large faunus wiped his brow as he stood under the overhang of what he assumed was once a manufacturing plant in the swamp. Whether it had been the Grimm or perhaps just nature itself, the establishment was clearly no longer under humanities upkeep. Abandoned shipping containers and empty metal barrels littered the factories grounds, when people had left this place, they did so in a hurry. Tukson hadn't chosen this destination for it aesthetics though, he chose it for what it was: a dump in the middle of nowhere and hopefully the last place anyone would think find him... or should he say, them._

 _Tukson's sharp yellow eyes scanned the heavily wooded horizon for signs of life, but there was no sign of his expected company. The faunus sighed in exasperation, looking up at the blazing midday sun, and then back down at the pair of large packed suitcase at his feet. Leaning against the wall next to them was his fire axe "Sfida Infinita", he wasn't expecting trouble, but the weapon was easily within his reach in case of unwanted guests, or worse: Grimm. They were a very real threat this far out from humanities settlements, there was a reason nobody went out here, but they were a necessary evil to prevent him and Neo from being discovered._

 _The human and faunus had been seeing each other for a little over a year now, and while Tukson wasn't exactly excited about the reason for this meeting, the thought of seeing the mysterious assassin again made his heart flutter. He smiled as he thought about just how far they'd come._

 _After the Drake incident, Tukson had made good on his promise to track Neo down. Why? He wasn't entirely sure at the time, he just knew he had to see her again. However, the elusive woman hadn't made things easy for him, for three weeks the search consumed him, his work with the White Fang even began to suffer a bit as a result, but finally he caught up with her._

 _It had appeared to be a rookie mistake on Neo's part, for some reason she'd been returning to the same warehouse after every job she took. Tukson didn't have a clue what she was doing, but she was always in there for at least an hour after completing her objectives. It was risky, but if he wanted to see her, it might be his only chance._

 _But when he finally confronted Neo there, she merely smiled at him in that same condescending way she had the first night they'd met and said, "What took you so long?" She'd wanted him to find her, at first he'd thought it was a trap, but at the same time it hadn't felt like one, "I certainly hope you've improved a bit since last time," Neo had said, opening her parasol and resting it on her shoulder._

 _Tukson smiled maliciously, the message received, she wanted to go another round with him. His axe eagerly unfolded itself in his hands and he brought it up, two handed in front of him, pointing the sharpened edge at his opponent, "Only one way to find out," he said, his blade igniting as the dust crystal in it's end activated._

 _With that, the talking ended and the two clashed once again. The feelings were all the same as the last time, the thrill of a good fight, the relief of not having to hold back, and the exhilaration of knowing that this person was entirely capable of killing them. It was heaven for both of them, but when the dust finally settled it was Tukson who was left standing this time, albeit barely. He stood on wobbly legs, panting heavily, his semblance had been working overtime to heal his wounds, his right arm hung limply at his side, his shoulder had been dislocated and was unable to heal itself in it's current state. It had been a smart move on Neo's part, strength meant very little when you didn't have an arm to swing your weapon._

 _Neo had impressed Tukson, even more so than the last time the two of them went at it. Tukson could still remember the look Neo had given him when he'd disarmed her, it was somewhere between anger and disbelief, clearly defeat wasn't something she was used to. But in that moment, staring down at Neo as she knelt on the warehouse floor in front of him, Tukson's blade at her throat, when the faunus should have ended their rivalry once and for all, he realized he couldn't do it._

 _He didn't want it to end, he wanted the thrills to keep coming, like a junky, he was hooked. When he stared into Neo's mismatched eyes he could tell she felt the same, so they parted ways again, this time though, they exchanged their contact information. Soon those little fights became a regular occurrence, they'd meet up somewhere -usually at night- where they wouldn't be seen, and they'd duke it out for hours. It was harmless fun really, neither of them got seriously hurt, nothing that couldn't be healed up in a few days anyway, there was a little property damage, but they were always long gone before they ever faced any of the consequences for that._

 _It was perfect... right up until it wasn't. Tukson massaged his temple at the unpleasant memory, the events burned into his conscience began to unwillingly replay themselves in his head._

 _The construction site they'd chosen as their stage for their duel that evening was bathed in pale moonlight. The path of destruction they'd left would ensure the frustration of the workers when they arrived in the morning, girders bent, freshly laid concrete cracked, planks of wood left splintered all over the ground, this had been the most intense battle between the two so far. Tukson had fought with more ferocity than usual that night, the two had been having these little matches for almost two months at that point and the burly faunus was decidedly behind in the wins category, something Neo was always quick to remind him of after a fight had ended. Tukson was desperate to even things out, so when he got an advantage after Neo twisted her ankle on a bad landing, he pressed it. The giant faunus rained blow after blow down on the smaller woman's parasol, his eyes were wild, animal-like, his pupils reduced to slits, the high of the fight was fully in control at that point. Sometimes Tukson got this way: lost in a blind rage, it was a side effect of his faunus heritage, the wild beast within him breaking out of it's cage. It didn't happen often, but when it did, things looked bad for his opponents. Neo could barely keep up with him at that point, she'd pushed her semblance to it's limits to avoid the faunus' blows, and exhaustion was starting to set in. Then Tukson made a horizontal slash towards Neo's abdomen, catching her off guard. Before she could intercept it with her own weapon, or escape with her semblance, the axes edge made contact, shattering her weakened aura, but the blade hadn't stopped there. The weapons momentum met little resistance against the petite woman's flesh, there was a sick, wet sound and both combatants froze._

 _Tukson's eyes drifted downwards to his hands that grasped his weapons hilt, then to the shaft leading towards to axes blade, and then on to the weapons edge itself, which was currently lodged in Neo's side._

 _Terror tore Tukson out of his adrenaline filled haze and back to reality. Neo's eyes never left Tukson's, both her irises a light shade of pink, she didn't seem to want to look down, as if not acknowledging the wound would make it nonexistent. Then the color of her eyes faded to white, and Neo's legs gave out from under her as she fell to the ground. Then there was blood._

 _Tukson's blade was no longer obstructing it's flow and the wound poured crimson onto the ground. Tukson couldn't remember ever being so horrified in his life, the realization that HE had done it, along with the sight of the shattered moon's deep red reflection in the blood that was collecting on the cold concrete beneath them. The moment would haunt him forever. Time seemed to stop, Tukson tried to help, but as luck would have it, that's when Neo's friend in the bowler hat showed himself, Neo had been followed._

 _To say the human was angry would be an understatement, the orange haired man fired dozens of flares from his cane at Tukson, screaming obscenities at the bulky faunus as he dodged the best he could. The faunus' options hadn't been great, he could of tried and talked it out, explain the situation, but that was incredibly unlikely to work, and even if it did, Neo was running out of time. He could have stayed and fought, but that had the same issue, not to mention that evenings fight had already taken a lot out of him. So he chose the third option, he ran. Hoping that the darkness would conceal his identity from the human well enough -and that he'd be more interested in saving his friend than giving chase- Tukson bolted off into the night, not stopping until he was back at his apartment three towns over._

 _The next few weeks were rough for the puma faunus, he barely slept, he barley ate, he took no jobs for the White Fang, he just laid around, reliving the events that had taken place that night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Neo's small crumpled body on the ground before him, and he could almost smell the blood in the air. He'd stare at his scroll for hours at a time. No messages, at least none from Neo, his colleagues sent him worried texts often, and a few even came to his apartment to check on him, but he never answered the door._

 _After two weeks he assumed the worst, he'd killed her, he'd killed the only person to make him feel truly alive in years. A sick part of him thought that maybe he deserved this, years of taking other peoples lives without blinking an eye, it had finally caught up with him, taken away someone he had no idea he cared about so deeply. With that, Tukson just stopped, he was content to just waste away, lay down and die, semblance be damned. If he wanted it bad enough, death could even find someone like him._

 _Relief didn't even begin to describe his feeling when he got that message the next day. It was a picture of Neo wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans, standing in front of a full length mirror. One hand held her scroll, taking the picture, the other lifted up the bottom of her shirt revealing a large scar on her side, at the top of the photo was one word, "Rematch?"_

 _Tukson was half laughing, half crying when he saw it, it was like letting out a breathe he'd been holding for almost a month. It was around that time that he realized just how much this woman -whom when they met, had nearly killed him- meant to him now. He cared about Neo, the revelation was only slightly less shocking than realizing that he felt that way about a human, the same race he'd been fighting for years, but for some reason, that hardly seemed to mattered to him at this point. The only thing that did matter to him was whether or not the ice-cream assassin felt the same way. He had to know, so he set up another meeting between the two of them immediately._

 _He'd never forget the surprise on Neo's face when she'd shown up, expecting a battle, and Tukson had brought out a small picnic lunch. It had been a risky move, he didn't want to pressure Neo into anything, but he also didn't want to fight her anymore either, the risk wasn't worth the cheap thrill. Neo was understandably hesitant to the idea, standing there with her arms crossed, glaring at Tukson as he sat underneath a nearby tree and began reading the book he'd brought with him. He wasn't sure if it was that her injuries weren't fully healed yet, or maybe it was the pint of ice cream Tukson had stored in his basket, but finally Neo just sighed and joined him._

 _That was that really, all it had taken was that one moment of trust, of acceptance, of... not trying to kill each other for five minutes. Their weren't anymore battles to the death between the two of them, those little meetings turned into the two just relaxing and talking, well Tukson talked, Neo was about as chatty as usual, speaking only when it suited her. Usually it was about work, complaining about it mainly, troublesome clients, unsatisfying kills, not exactly the usual banter for people getting to know each other, it worked though. They also talked about their history, where they'd grown up, their friends, including Roman -the one who'd saved Neo after their last fight- whom she had known since they were kids apparently. However, this meant Tukson also had to talk about Chip, a old wound that he had never really shared with anyone before, definitely not with anyone outside his species. Yet somehow talking about his tragedies with the smaller girl helped lighten the burden they placed on him a little, it didn't fix the things that'd happened, didn't make them right either, but it just... helped in a way. Neo was an exceptionally good listener, and maybe that was all Tukson had ever really needed, to air his grievances instead of using them as fuel to add to the fire inside him. With every chat they'd gotten a little closer, opening up just a little bit more, to put it simply; the two of them were dating before either of them even realized it._

 _Tukson still couldn't wrap his head around how it happened, they made an odd couple to say the leas, had the two ever met in public they'd attract more than a few stares on height difference alone. Really all they had in common at first was their bloody histories, but maybe that's what brought them together? Neo and him had spent so long living their dark lifestyles that they'd cut themselves off from nearly everyone, reasoning that they didn't have the capacity to form normal relationships anymore. The world was cruel and unforgiving, and neither of them saw any reason to give anyone else a chance, but just having someone who not just understood, but had lived a life just as... unsavory, let them open up to each other... maybe? Tukson certainly wasn't an expert on relationships, all he knew for certain was that somehow the two of them had stumbled into something amazing and he wouldn't trade what they had now for anything._

 _Not to say things were perfect by any means, the main issue to Tukson was all the secrecy, he hated that he had to hide his affections for Neo, but it was a necessary inconvenience he supposed. They both lived dangerous lives and if their respective associates ever found out about their relationship, there would only be trouble. After Neo had been followed by Roman that one night -even though Tukson was insanely grateful she had been- the two had decided to be twice as vigilant at keeping their secret. It was definitely worth the risk, but it was just exhausting for the faunus man, staking out locations for hours before meeting up, coming up with convincing cover stories for their respective organizations, renting out the seediest motel rooms-_

 _Tukson felt his face heat up at that thought, thinking about how the two's relationship had...developed over time. The tall faunus was still new to this whole "affection" thing and Neo was never hesitant to tease him about it, stealing quick kisses when he was reading and laughing when he went tomato red as a result. It was only natural their relationship became physical eventually given all the time they'd spent together. It was an unfamiliar feeling for Tukson, having someone in his life he could be completely vulnerable with, but those few lucky nights they two of them spent together, when Neo would fall asleep in the faunus' large arms, they wiped away any fears or doubts he had about what he felt._

 _Tukson smiled to himself as a light breeze blew through the abandoned factory. He was happy -another shocking new feeling for the usually glum faunus- however, he knew that this relationship was about to face it's biggest hurdle, as he looked down at the hastily packed bags at his feet. Tukson had no idea how he was going to break the news to-_

 _There was a sound of metal scraping against metal behind him, Tukson's eyes shot in the direction, and he swept up his axe with his right hand and the weapon instantly unfolded at his command. He waited for the sound to repeat itself, or for it's maker to appear, it could be a Beowolf, or any number of Grimm having wandered this far out into the swamps, or worse, a person. But after a moment with nothing but the sound of the birds in the tress around him, Tukson relaxed his stance. He was being too jumpy, it was probably just some animal scurrying around, or maybe the old building was just making those old building noises they sometimes did, or it could-_

 _Tukson didn't finish this thought, and when he turned around he never even saw the attack coming, of course said "attack" was a smaller woman standing on her tip toes and pressing her lips to his. Regardless, Tukson practically jumped out of his skin._

 _He looked down at Neo's face beaming up at him,"God, Neo! I could have killed you!" Tukson said, setting his axe back in it's place against the wall. Neo gave Tukson an incredulous smile, almost as if to say, "yeah, right". Her eyes shifting colors when she blinked up at the tall faunus, "Okay, maybe not." Tukson relented, "but still, you shouldn't sneak-"_

 _Tukson was cut off when Neo grabbed his collar and pulled him into a deeper kiss. After getting over the initial shock, Tukson relaxed himself and wrapped his arms around her. By the time Neo released her hold on him, he had pretty much forgotten what he was about to lecture her about, "I... uh, it's... good to see you too, Neo," Tukson managed to stammer out, trying his best to hide his blush._

 _Neo giggled at him and reached up and gently flicked the end of Tukson's nose with her finger, "You are such a dork," said Neo in a teasing tone._

 _"Maybe," Tukson said, bringing his hand up and cupping Neo's cheek, "but as long as I'm your dork..." it was a surprisingly smooth line for Tukson, not stumbling over his words was a rare occasion when it came to flirting like this. Neo's eyes shined brightly up at Tukson, and she offered a small smile and a nod._

 _Neo still didn't talk much, and Tukson had learned to treasure the moments when she chose to, but honestly, she didn't need to speak. In their time together, Tukson had learned to read her expressions, especially her eyes, somehow the smaller woman said more with those two orbs than any words ever could._

 _Unfortunately, it was those same eyes that at that moment noticed the suitcase's at Tukson's feet. She looked at the bags, and then back up to Tukson her eyes shifting to pink and white, he'd learn to recognize this as confusion, then realization flashed across her face. Neo wasn't even remotely stupid, Tukson wasn't surprised she'd figured it out so fast;_

 _He was leaving._

 _Since she'd already unearthed the landmine that Tukson had been building up to, he decided to just skip straight to the explanation, "Peter and Carmella are dead." the faunus said, closing his eyes at the still recent memory._

 _Neo looked more speechless than usual. Tukson had mentioned his two faunus friends from the White Fang a couple times to her. No, "friends" seemed like the wrong word to describe them, "family" was more accurate. The three of them were the only survivors of their kind after the faunus purge of Chip just over a two decades ago. Peter, Carmella, and Tukson had risen through the ranks of the Fang together, they'd bonded through the many hardships they'd faced growing up in a world so discriminatory towards their kind._

 _Those two... they deserved so much better than getting killed by a gang of anti-faunus radicals like they had. Tukson would always blame himself for what happened, he should have known the safe house's location was compromised, he should have foreseen those freaks in the gold masks showing up. It had been his job to know these things, and because he'd been too self assured of the places safety to do a perimeter check, Peter and Carmella were gone. To be fair, the humans that had done it had killed Tukson too, but it didn't take, it never did with him. So when his semblance had patched him up, and he'd dug himself out of the shallow grave they'd left them in, he'd been the only one that had made it. A curse worth than death in his eyes._

 _Tukson did his best to brush the painful memories aside for a moment, at least until he'd said his piece to Neo. He recounted the story of their deaths, desperately trying to keep from breaking down halfway through. He could see the anger building on Neo's face, anger towards the ones that had done this to Tukson, her overprotective nature was kind of cute actually... in a scary way._

 _"So yeah... they're... gone now and I... don't really know what to do without them... and I can't stay with the White Fang anymore," Tukson swallowed hard before continuing, "losing them... it's just too much. I need... I need to figure some stuff out," Neo placed a hand on Tukson's shoulder, the faunus saw the genuine sympathy on the pink and brown haired assassins face before him. It was no secret the two of them were guilty of far worse crimes than what had befallen Tukson, but the gesture was still appreciated. The faunus placed his hand on top of Neo's, and he smiled for a moment, then it vanished from his face, "but... that's not the only reason I'm leaving them," Tukson admitted. Neo raised an eyebrow at this, "When they... 'killed' me, I was terrified. I've survived so much thanks to my semblance, that I never really considered the concept of death before. I guess I figured thinking about stuff like that would make me... I don't know, weak? I guess?" Tukson's eyes seemed to go out of focus as he relived the horror of the event, "But as I felt the life leave me for what I thought was the last time, I couldn't help but think about what I was leaving behind." Neo continued to give her faunus boyfriend a confused look, "My legacy, what I had really contributed to the world, you know?" Neo gave Tukson's hand a supportive squeeze, strengthening him to keep going, "and all I could think about was all the lives I've taken, the pain I've caused. Ultimately I realized, I haven't helped anyone with my work for the Fang. All I've done is give people reason to hate my kind even more."_

 _The truth hurt, it really did. Tukson's actions, the White Fangs actions as a whole, they weren't changing anything. The idea of becoming the monster's humanity had always seen the faunus as was just pushing the human's to fight back harder. Tensions were building, war was the only possible outcome of this course of action, and that was the last thing either race needed. Tukson knew he couldn't stop them, he was just one man after all, but what he could do was take himself out of the equation, give the White Fang one less weapon to be used in the growing conflict._

 _"I've made up my mind," he stated confidently, "I'm not going to be a part of this anymore. No more killing, no more violence, I'm leaving to start a new life."_

 _Neo looked at Tukson gloomily, she knew why he was leaving now at least, but that clearly didn't make the faunus hurt any less. Judging by her reaction, apparently Tukson wasn't the only one who'd grown accustomed to this relationship they'd built together. In just a year, the two had become an integral part of each others lives, they both had someone they couldn't imagine living without now. Well, Tukson hoped that maybe they didn't have to live without each other._

 _With that, he stepped forward, taking Neo's hands in his own, as he got to the real reason he'd asked Neo to meet him here today,"Come with me." Neo's eyes practically exploded out of her head at Tukson's request, and the faunus could of sworn he saw her eyes go white for a moment, was she afraid? It hadn't been the reaction Tukson had been expecting/hoping for, but he continued, "Think about it, we could just leave this life behind," Tukson gestured to one of the bags at his feet, "I've got enough money left from my inheritance that we could start a new life together."_

 _It's true, Tukson's parents had own quite a profitable business back in the day, and according to their will had left their son a substantial amount of money when they'd died on Chip during the purge. He'd kept this sum secret and secure for years now, only tapping into it in the most desperate of circumstances. But with his new life, he'd need a new occupation, and he had a few ideas of what he wanted to do, well, one idea really. His mother had owned a small bookstore on Chip after all, and Tukson had more than once thought about following in her footsteps._

 _"We'll go somewhere the White Fang and Roman's goons would never find us. Even if it means going to a different kingdom, I here Vale's beautiful this time of year," Tukson stopped there, his speech starting resemble more of a sales pitch than an impassioned request, so he took a moment to take in Neo's reaction to his plan. She looked... conflicted, her gaze was fixed on the ground between the two of them, she chewed on her lower lip, a nervous habit Tukson had picked up on. Her eyes colors changed as she blinked, as if she was processing the offer Tukson had presented. "We could start over, have a normal life for a change. We don't have to do the things we do anymore... we don't have to be killers," Neo's eyes shot up at Tukson's words, "we'll leave that life behind us, and find something better."_

 _That was that, Tukson's offer was on the table, it was up to Neo now. For a second or so, the two said nothing. Neo still hadn't looked away from Tukson, her expression unreadable now. Then her brow began to twitch and her eyes narrowed at the faunus, the look had evolved to a full blown glare, then Neo closed her eyes, pulled her hands away from Tukson and let out a quiet sigh._

 _"You're wrong," Neo said. Confusion washed over the faunus' features, he wasn't sure what had Neo meant by that, but when he opened his mouth the seek clarification, Neo interrupted, "you're wrong about me. About us." Neo gestured at the two of them. "A normal life? After everything we've done?" Neo's voice was full self deprecation, "No, people like us- like me, we don't get to have that."_

 _Tukson felt his throat tighten as Neo spoke. He saw what she was getting at, there was no real way to escape the past, but the only way to break this endless cycle of violence they'd been stuck in was to just step off the playing field, right?_

 _"You really think the people we work for would just let us go? Even if we did leave, they'd find us," Neo's look darkened, "it doesn't matter where we go, or what rock we hide under, they will be relentless," Neo took a step towards Tukson, the look on her face almost making him take a step back in response. He'd never seen her this way before. "They'd track us down, and then they'd subject us to the same torture and horrors we've been putting others through our whole lives!" Neo was shouting by the end of her sentence, the normally mute girl's voice was starting to strain from the uncharacteristic yelling. The anguish in her voice, the way Neo was starring straight into his eyes like he'd committed some horrible crime against her. Tukson could feel Neo distancing herself from him, but he wasn't giving up, he hadn't actually heard a "no" yet._

 _"Life isn't like a fairy tale, Tukson! Especially for... villains like us! We don't get to ride off into the sunset at the end and live happily ever after! Okay!?" Neo's eyes were shimmering with tears building up behind them as she continued her tirade, but what she said next was in a calm, collected, and very disturbing voice, "the only way it ends for us is in blood, and it's time you stopped kidding yourself about it."_

 _Tukson could hear Neo's voice starting to crack as she spoke. Her emotions were threatening to boil over again, he had to tell her. It seemed like a simple thing to say, three little words, but he never wanted want to do it like this, as some last ditch effort to keep Neo around. He wanted the moment to be perfect, he needed her to understand how much she meant to him._

 _But a part of him knew, if he didn't say it now, he'd regret it for the rest of his life, "Neo-"_

 _"What!? What part of this plan seems like even a remotely good idea to you!? What could possibly be worth the risk to-"_

 _"I love you, Neo."_

 _Everything stopped. Even the birds seemed to go quiet, as if nature itself was aware of the gravity of this moment they were sharing._

 _The two of them had been together for quite some time, and while romantic gestures had been shared between them, this particular milestone had yet to be crossed. Tukson had known his ultimate feelings about Neo for a while now, but it was only after his near death experience that he was able to articulate his emotions and see just how much he cared about the amazing person before him. He didn't just want a new life, he wanted Neo to be an integral part of it, honestly, he had a hard time imagining any kind of existence without the small, ice cream loving woman at this point. This life of secret rendezvous just wasn't going to cut it for him anymore, he was all in on this, and Tukson wanted to spend as much time with Neo as possible, every waking moment if she'd allow it. This was where they were now, Tukson had played his final card, it was all up to Neo._

 _And so she stood before him, fury extinguished, mouth hanging open, all her words gone, her eyes wide as saucers, arms limp at her side, she looked... frozen. After a few moments the world seemed to resume it's rotation, but Neo remained there, seemingly stuck in place. Eventually, it was Tukson who broke the silence, calling out to her softly, "Neo?" the smaller woman flinched slightly at her name, she looked somewhere between confused and panicked, but still very far away mentally. Slowly Tukson moved his hand towards hers, trying to will her out of the trance he seemed to have put her in inadvertently. But as soon as his fingertips made contact with Neo's arm she yanked her body away and recoiled backwards like Tukson's hand had been burning hot._

 _Panic seemed to win the battle for expression as her irises went white and her breathing became short. Neo raised a hand to her chest over her heart, a faint blush appeared on her face. "I-I... what?" Neo managed to stammer out._

 _Patiently and gently, Tukson spoke to her, "It's true, I think I've loved you for a while now. That's why I think- No, I know this can work," Neo stared back at Tukson her breathing returning to normal slowly, shock melting away to disbelief as she continued to listen to him, "I know what I've done, and what you've shared with me. We can't change the past, and maybe we don't deserve to be forgiven, but it doesn't mean we can't change, that we can't try to do better." The pleading in Tukson's voice was evident. he'd been kept awake more than once with the unsettling memories of his deeds, but he had always believed that change had to start from within, you just had to be willing to try. The two of them could walk this path together, accept the past and that the tragedies they went through would no longer define who they were. He just had to reach out to Neo and give her that chance for change._

 _"We can be happy, I know we can. I'll open up a little shop in Vale, restart the family business, and maybe... and... I don't know, maybe we could even start a family of our own someday?" Something seemed to shift in the way Neo looked at him when he said that, "I know you don't think so, but we deserve to be happy, Neo, or at least we owe it to ourselves to try," Tukson outstretched his hand to Neo, a literal representation of the offer he was making to her, "right?"_

 _The pink and brown haired woman studied the faunus' hand for a moment, her eyes were still brimming with tears, and when she closed them for a moment, a few slipped out. Tukson felt his heart soar as Neo raised her hand up towards his, fingertips outstretched as they got closer and closer..._

 _Then her arm snapped back to her side, and Tukson felt gravity retake it's hold, as his heart plummeted down to his feet._

 _"I... I'm sorry..." the tears met no resistance now as they fell down Neo's cheeks._

 _No._

 _Please, no._

 _"I can't," she half spoke, half sobbed._

 _Without thinking, Tukson sprang forward, his hand poised to grasp as Neo's wrist. He just had to get a hold of her before she-_

 _ **CRASH!**_

 _Neo's image shattered before him. All Tukson had manged to grab was a handful of broken shards._

 _He stood still there, an expression of despair on his face, staring at the vacant spot that Neo had once occupied. He brought his hand up to his view and opened it, a few pieces of the mirror like shards were stuck in his hand, a bit of his own blood pooling in his palm. In the shards he could see the refection of the pale skin on Neo's wrist. He didn't want to remove them, he wanted at least that part of her to stay with him forever, anything to fill the growing void in his chest. Then, after a few seconds, the pieces deteriorated into dust and blew off into the wind._

 _She was gone. Just like that._

 _As Tukson stared at his rapidly healing palm he felt his knees get weak, the pain was excruciating. He'd been hurt before, left for dead more times than he cared to count, but nothing compared to this. He wanted nothing more than to lay down on the cold hard ground and just wait for an Ursa to come by and end his life. But he wouldn't, he couldn't, he knew that. He often thought of his semblance as more of a curse than a blessing, as if the universe seemed to take sick pleasure in punishing him, so naturally he'd been "gifted" the ability to heal from any damage._

 _He was born a survivor. No matter what was thrown at him, he always got back up and kept going, kept living. When his parents were murdered by hateful humans, or when he took his first life for the White Fang, even when Peter and Carmella died, he was always the one left standing, he was always the one left to continue on alone._

 _But this time... this was different. As the his strength finally gave out and he fell to his knees, Tukson learned of a new type of pain, a wound that even he could never truly heal. It was the pain and loneliness of saying goodbye to someone you care about for the last time, he prayed that if he ever survived this, he never had to feel this way ever again._

* * *

 _"Flight 18 to Mirage is now boarding at Gate 9 for all rows,"_ the PA announcement tore Tukson out of his memories, the bottom pretty much dropping out of his stomach.

Oreonna stood up and grabbed her bag, Tukson stood too, even though he wasn't going anywhere. He took in the sight of his daughter in front of him, gone was the little girl in pigtails he'd made it his fatherly duty to protect, replaced with this young woman ready to take on the world. Dressed in her combat attire, with Symphonic Discord's shield/violin on her back, and her bow/sword sheathed at her hip, she was the very image of a strong, capable huntress. She was ready. He wasn't, but no need to let his daughter know that.

"Well, this is it," Oreonna said, her voice brimming with much more confidence than Tukson had.

"Yeah... I guess so," Tukson scratched the back of his head awkwardly, had he mentioned just how bad he was at goodbyes?

Luckily Oreonna took care of it, stepping forward and wrapping her father in a quick, affectionate hug, "I'll see you when I come home for the holidays," she stepped away and smirked up at her dad, "try not to burn the store down while I'm gone, alright?"

That was his daughter, always trying to lighten the mood. He'd miss that, "Oreo... just... just don't do anything too crazy, okay?" Tukson placed his hands on Oreonna's shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes, "and if you ever get into trouble, I'm only a phone call away."

"C'mon dad, what kind of trouble could I get into at a school designed to train kids to fight the deadliest monsters in existence?" Sarcasm. Yeah, he'd miss that less, but still, he smiled.

"Hey, I'm proud of you, I just... I don't feel like I tell you that enough, and I need you to know that," Tukson felt a his throat tighten, and from the look Oreonna was giving him, she was having a similar problem.

"Thanks dad, that means a lot."

 _"Final boarding call for Flight 18 to Mirage, Vacuo."_ The PA system interrupted again. Now or never, Oreonna finally took a step away and Tukson's arms fell back to his sides.

"Okay, then. I'll see you soon." Oreonna said, finally managing to turn around and began walking towards the gate, she stopped and looked back giving Tukson a wave before she kept walking, disappearing from sight.

Tukson was left alone. He felt so many things at that moment, not all of them good. But all things considered, he thought he held it together fairly well.

He went to leave, but once he had his back to the gate, he heard the sound of footsteps running up behind him. He spun around just in time to have his daughter crash into him, nearly barrelling him over and locking him into a much tighter embrace this time. Tukson stumbled back in surprise from the force of the "attack", that would of sent a smaller man onto their back.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," Oreonna's voice cracked as she spoke.

Tukson returned the embrace just as hard,"I'll miss you too, Oreonna," Tukson was barely holding back tears at this point.

"I love you, dad," Oreonna croaked out as Tukson felt his daughters tears begin to soak into his shirt.

"I love you too, Oreo," Tukson replied with an extra squeeze, his resolve finally breaking, as a single drop of liquid escaped his eye. He quickly wiped it away before Oreonna could see, he had to keep up a brave face for her.

Eventually Oreonna backed away, taking a moment to dry her eyes, "Thank you, for everything," regaining her composure, she offered her father a huge smile.

Tukson didn't know how to respond at this point. He opened his mouth, but immediately closed it, the feeling of the still very present tears threatening to break through stopping him. He merely returned the smile and offered a nod of acknowledgement.

The attendant at the gate -who had been observing the entire exchange- gave the two of them a sympathetic look, but at the same time tapped his finger against his watch, in a "I get it, this is hard, but I'm gonna lose my job if I don't get this gate closed," kind of way. With that, Oreonna turned around and walked away, this time not stopping, not looking back.

It wasn't until the attendant finally closed the gate that it hit him, she was gone. Tukson remained in the terminal for a while after that, processing this fact. He thought he'd done a pretty good job at the whole "dad" thing that he'd kind of been thrown into all those years ago. But at that moment, he felt he understood what parenthood was all about, this was what everything built up to: the moment you sent your child out into the unforgiving world, so they could continue to grow using everything you'd taught them. Eventually, they'd have children of their own someday, and then the cycle would begin anew. He might have understood, but it was still the hardest thing he'd even done. But he knew Oreonna would be fine, she was strong and stubborn like her dad, and crafty and wild like her mom. Nothing on Remnant could stop her.

After he felt like enough time had passed, long after Oreonna's airship had set off for Vacuo, Tukson began strolling out of the airport. Familiar feelings brewing inside himself, the feeling of being left behind, having to say goodbye to someone he cared about, it was all a little too similar for him... It'd be easy to slip back into that dark place he was in after Neo left, surviving just for the sake of surviving, because it was all he could do.

But it felt... different this time, there was another emotion that kept the cracks from forming, something that he knew would carry him threw this. That feeling was pride, in himself, and his daughter. Surprising even himself, Tukson felt a small smile creep onto his face, it was confident, but at the same time a little sad.

With his daughter safe, however, Tukson knew it was time for him to get back to work. The White Fang was still a threat to everyone, human and faunus, and stopping them had to be his number one priority now. Still, a part of him felt like he was getting a little over dramatic over Oreonna leaving, I mean, it wasn't like this was the last time he'd ever see his daughter, right?

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **A/N- YUP! I'm the worst!**

 **I'm not as confident about this chapter as I had been when I first wrote it, this whole scenario is definitely out of my wheelhouse to write about. It came out okay I guess, I suppose that's really up to you guys though. Hopefully I managed to make some of you feel a thing.**

 **Next time: We're gonna be stepping away from Tuksn's POV for a bit, as we finally arrive at (my version) of Shade Academy! New friends! New frenemies! New teachers! Also we'll have the beginnings of Oreonna's team! Who's excited! Just me! Cool!**

 **;P**


	6. The First Stumble

****A/N- Ehhhhh!? Author's note's at the BEGINNING of the chapter!? Madness! Nah, it's fine. I just wanna let you know it's Friday when I'm typing this and I lost power for about four days, so I haven't even started editing this yet. I'm still gonna try and get it done by Saturday, like all of my other updates, but if I don't, now you know why. But if I do get it done on time, and you notice waaaaaay more grammar and spelling errors than usual... that's... also... why...  
K. Cool. Enjoy another long chapter! See you at the end. :P  
****

 **The Ballad of Oreonna Delsole Part 6- The First Stumble**

The engines of the massive airships hummed peacefully as they soared over the deserts of Vacuo, the large transports slowly turned sideways to dock as they arrived at their destination after a short thirty minute trip from the nearby city of Mirage. To say that the structure they stopped at stood out among the barren wasteland that surrounded it would be an understatement, as soon as the building had appeared on the horizon, the students aboard the airships all pressed up against the windows to get a better look at their home for the next four years. What they saw was an absolutely colossal oak tree the size of a skyscraper with gigantic branches covered in vibrant green leaves, with small windows on it's bark all over every surface. At the top of the tree they could see the antennae for the Cross Continental Transit System's tower sticking out, a faint orange glow from it's tip signaling it was functioning. As the airships got closer, they also saw that at the base of the tree sat a large ancient looking building, almost a temple of some kind, with the great tree's roots weaving into the structure beneath it. The tree and temple, along with the sprawling gardens and courtyard surrounding them, formed the most prestigious school in the entire kingdom, a place where the youth of the world could learn to fight back against the encroaching darkness, a glorious oasis in the brutal desert of Vacuo;

Shade Academy.

The crowd of huntsmen and huntresses in training bolted out of the airships the second the hatches opened. Some immediately joined their friends and began chatting as they proceeded towards the large courtyard outside the entrance, others hung back, awestruck at the sight of the academy up close. Oreonna was one of the last ones to step off the airship, however her slowness was not due to a lack of excitement, rather, after spending the last few hours in Mirage the young faunus had become keenly aware of one key difference between Vacuo and her home kingdom of Vale.

 _Oh my god, it is so freakin' hot here!_ Oreonna screamed internally as she exited the air conditioned bliss of the airship, her cat ears laid flat on her head in discomfort, her tail hanging limply behind her.

Her choice of nearly all black attire probably didn't help her situation. The cat faunus took a look down at her outfit, she briefly considered some adjustments she could make to counteract the change in climate. Remove the sleeves, the leggings would definitely have to go, maybe some shorts instead?... Oreonna was no seamstress by any stretch of the imagination, but if she was expected to survive in this kind of heat, some changes would definitely have to be made.

Pushing the thought aside for a later day, Oreonna eagerly made her way into the courtyard. Thankfully the enormous tree provided a cool bit of shade -Oreonna wondered if that had anything to do with the academies name- from the overpowering sun above Vacuo. Oreonna found an unoccupied stone bench next to one of the many flower beds near the entryway to the school and took a seat, from her position she took in her new home in all it's majesty. She'd made it! This was the first step to her becoming the huntress she always dreamed of being! Oreonna felt her excitement start to bubble over, her tail swinging back and forth and a huge smile spread across her face.

Oreonna took some time to observe her new classmates as they moved around the courtyard. Everyone seemed just as excited as she was, chatting with friends and laughing, everyone just hanging out waiting for orientation to begin, but as the cat fauns watched over everyone a twinge of uneasiness sneaked into her. She'd made it to Shade, yes, but she hadn't realized what she'd left behind in Vale until now, namely: friends. The uneasiness in Oreonna was soon joined by loneliness and she knew their constant companion anxiety couldn't be far off.

 _No, it's fine!_ Oreonna reasoned with herself, _I've made friends before, and I can do it again! Just like I did with Yang... well... I guess technically she made friends with me... I was waaaay to shy to even talk to her at first... but that's fine! I made friends with all her friends too!... who I only knew because Yang introduced me... Uh-oh..._ The realization had Oreonna's stomach twisting into knots, but the cat faunus wouldn't let herself get discouraged so quickly, she could do this! _Yeah! Social interaction can't be that hard. Let's go!_ Oreonna started scanning the crowd for targets, _Okay, step one: don't refer to potential friends as targets._

Suddenly she heard loud booming laughter to her right rising above all the other sounds nearby, the faunus turned her head to the source, a tall blonde girl. She had her shining yellow hair up in a bun with two longer strands hanging over her ears, a red handkerchief wrapped around her head, tied off just above the back of her neck, a pair of brown spotted cow ears on top of her head sticking out just above it. The girl wore light combat armor consisting of a steel breastplate and a singular shoulder guard over her right arm. On her lower half was a metal skirt with golden accents and a symbol of a cowbell with a moon behind it in it's center. Oreonna marveled at just how tall and muscular this girl was, she probably even put Yang to shame size-wise, however her imposing figure was slightly undone by her still giggling uncontrollably with one hand over her mouth trying to contain herself. The two girls she was standing with smiled at the cow faunus, the darker haired of the two muttered something Oreonna couldn't hear and immediately the tall blonde broke into another fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Oreonna smiled, this girl seemed friendly enough, friendly people laughed a lot, right? Well, either that, or this girl was criminally insane... For her own sake, Oreonna chose to believe the former. So the cat faunus stood with purpose, confidence surging through her, she marched towards the cow faunus who had finally managed to wrangle in her laughter. How hard could this be? Just walk over and introduce yourself, no sweat.

But as Oreonna got closer to her destination she felt the grip on her newfound confidence slipping away. What if she didn't want to talk to her? What would Oreonna even say if this girl DID want to talk? What if she said something stupid? Oh god. What if she DID something stupid? She didn't know this girl, what if she was angry at her for interrupting her conversation? What if she turned out to be a Beowolf in disguise!? Oreonna's fears became more and more hysterical and unbelievable as panic shot through her, but she couldn't turn back now, she was only a few steps from her target, _NO! STOP REFERRING TO THEM AS A TARGET! THIS ISN'T HOW NORMAL PEOPLE THINK!_

Suddenly the cow girl noticed the approaching cat faunus and her brown eyes locked with Oreonna's pink ones. Oreonna was pretty sure her heart stopped, it suddenly felt like every eye in the courtyard was on her, she couldn't breathe, she wanted to turn and run, but her feet kept going forward, the appendages seemingly locked in motion. The girl gave Oreonna a friendly smile, and on instinct Oreonna smiled back...

... and then immediately sped up her gait, _ABORT! ABORT!_ Oreonna screamed internally, walking past the now very confused looking cow faunus. Luckily, the flustered cat girl was already headed in the direction of the entrance to the academy, so she made it look like she was going that way the entire time. Not exactly a smooth exit, but all parties involved could agree, nothing about this scenario had gone smoothly.

Oreonna had no idea where she was going now, her legs seemed to have developed a mind of their own as they entered Shade Academy proper, seemingly trying to put as much distance between themselves and the absolute train wreck that had become Oreonna's social life. In her trance like state, the black and white haired girl didn't even notice the interior hallways of Shade change from the stone temple outside to what appeared to be the inside of the giant tree towering over the academy, the entire building seemed to be built upwards into the monstrous oak. The fact that such architecture could exist while the tree itself still appeared to be not only alive, but flourishing in the desert wasteland gave credence to it's status as one of the many bizarre wonders of Remnant.

Oreonna probably would have found all this to be fascinating if she wasn't currently trying to keep her body from bursting into flames out of shame. Eventually, after walking through the twisting turning halls of the school for a while, Oreonna stumbled upon a bathroom. The cat faunus entered and after taking a few moments to splash some cold water onto her face, she looked up at herself in the mirror.

"Okay, so that didn't go so well." Oreonna admitted to herself in the understatement of the year. She'd always been this way in crowds of new people, ever since that incident when she was a little girl. The memories sent a chill down her spine all the way to her tail...

* * *

 _Six year old Oreonna was smiling as her bow glided gently across the strings of her violin, finishing the final notes of her song. The recital hall lit up with applause and she lowered her instrument to give a bow to the audience. Out in the crowd, the faunus saw a short, spunky looking, blonde girl around her age standing on her chair with her fingers in her mouth whistling loudly in delight, disturbing a few of the other patrons nearby. Next to her sat, and older man with a slightly lighter hair color, and next to him sat Oreonna's dad, the two adults clapping happily, Tukson was wearing a proud grin as he looked at his daughter._

 _Oreonna was so happy they'd all made it, her dad had even went ahead and closed up the shop so he could come! Oreonna had been looking forward to this day for weeks, it was her first real recital! She tried to make everything perfect, Yang had come over earlier and helped braid her friends black and white hair into a cute ponytail before the show, she knew everything about having good hair, so Oreonna knew she looked good. Her dad had even bought her the most beautiful dress ever to wear when she performed, it was all black with little puffs at the ends of the short sleeves and lots of sparkles on it. She knew they didn't have a lot of money, but her dad said it was okay as long as she kept it clean and took good care of it, it was the best dress in the whole world and it made Oreonna feel so pretty and grown up! Nothing could spoil her mood today!_

 _The young faunus was the last to perform, so not long after she met up with her dad in the lobby. He immediately scooped his daughter up in his giant arms and hugged her tightly, "You were amazing, Oreonna!" he said._

 _The black and white haired girl giggled as Tukson held her close, "Thanks daddy!" Tukson put her down and Oreonna looked around, "Where's Yang and Mister Xiao Long?"_

 _"They're waiting for us outside," Tukson explained, "Don't worry, we'll all be heading out to celebrate after I talk to your instructor for a minute."_

 _Oreonna, however was way too excited to wait even one second and huffed at her father, "Well, hurry up!" she ordered, "I want sushi!"_

 _Tukson rolled his eyes at his daughter, "Be patient, Oreo, I'll only be a minute," Tukson stepped away towards the instructor who was speaking to another of his students parents, "Wait right there, okay?" he called back._

 _Oreonna sighed loudly, swinging her violin case back and forth in her hand, her tail wagging in irritation. It was so boooooring. Why couldn't she-_

 _Out of the corner of her eye Oreonna saw a familiar looking mess of yellow hair, "Yang?" Oreonna asked._

 _The yellow haired girl was out of sight by the time Oreonna looked again, but she was sure she'd seen her friend exit the recital hall. The kitten faunus looked back at her dad, still waiting to meet with her instructor. This was stupid, she could just go with Yang and wait with Mr. Xiao Long until her dad was done, anything was better than just standing here. With that, Oreonna marched out of the recital hall and onto the streets outside._

 _As she stood at the top of the steps she looked back and forth trying to see where Yang went. The sidewalks were full of people exiting the hall as well as folks on their way home from work. In the street, cars moved by at a sluggish pace as the roads became more congested as the hour got later, adding to the clutter and noise in the air. Oreonna had never been to this part of Vale before, the buildings seemed to extend all the way up into the sky, it was all a little overwhelming for the cat girl._

 _There was another flash of yellow in the crowd, walking down the street and around the corner, "YANG!" Oreonna called out, but apparently her friend still hadn't heard her._

 _The small girl looked back at the hall once more, dad told her not to wander off... but it was okay, she'd be with Yang and her dad, she'd be fine. Oreonna proceeded down the steps and around the corner in the direction she saw Yang go, her violin case swinging in her hand as she walked. Oreonna was hot on her friends trail and before she knew it, she'd walked around another corner, and then another, and another, until eventually the faunus child got to a crosswalk and stopped. She knew she REALLY wasn't supposed to cross any streets by herself, but she could see Yang! She'd finally stopped and was right across the street! So as the crowd around her made their through the crosswalk, so did Oreonna._

 _Yang was only a few feet away, looking in the other direction. Oreonna smiled mischievously, happy to get the chance to sneak up on her friend for a change, she skipped forward and wrapped her free arm around Yang's shoulder, "Got you!" Oreonna exclaimed excitedly._

 _But then "Yang" turned around and Oreonna's stomach dropped. It wasn't Yang. It was some other girl with the same long blonde hair, looking confused at Oreonna, the faunus stepped back in shock. The woman walking next to the strange girl looked at Oreonna and sneered down at her in disgust, she grabbed her daughters hand and marched away from the young faunus muttering something under her breath about "mangy animals"._

 _Oreonna was still in shock, where was Yang? Then she looked around at the sea of people she was surrounded by. Never mind Yang, where was she? Panic filled the girls eyes as they darted around the unfamiliar area, the nearby buildings were almost obscured by the mass of humanity from her small perspective, with no sign of the recital hall or her father._

 _She was lost._

 _Her breath shortened when she realized just how far she'd walked from the hall. Her heart started pounding in her chest, she looked up at the people passing by, all of them seemingly unaware of her presence, "P-please..." Oreonna called out quietly, her fear making her voice quiet and timid, "Please, help me..."_

 _She managed to get the attention of a few of the passing strangers, but they merely turned their noses up at her and kept walking, a few of them muttering things like "stupid faunus" and "lousy stray". Oreonna didn't understand why no one would help her, and what's worse was the streets were becoming more and more crowded. The small faunus cried out as she started to get shoved around by people as they hurried past her, Oreonna didn't notice how close she was to the curb, and with one final bump from a stranger, she tripped off the sidewalk and landed in a muddy puddle o the street._

 _Oh no, Oreonna thought. She looked down and saw the wet patches and dark stains appearing all over her pretty outfit, her dress was ruined. She'd promised her dad she'd take care of it, it was so expensive and she ruined it. Would her dad be mad? Was he going to yell at her? Would he hate her now? Would he..._

 _Would he leave just her like her mom had?_

 _Oreonna brought herself up to her hands and knees and went to grab her violin case off the ground, but when she looked up she saw the case had broken open and her violin was laying face down in the puddle with her. This was the final straw, Oreonna picked up her violin and clutched it close to her chest, then she began to cry. She got her violin wet, her favorite dress was ruined, and she was lost._

 _Oreonna dragged herself out of the puddle and over to the curb, violin in one hand and broken case in the other. She sat down and cried quietly, still being ignored by the passerby's. What would she do if no one would help her? She didn't know the way home, was she never going to see her daddy again?_

 _Oreonna wasn't sure how long she sat there sobbing, but eventually she heard the sound of footsteps coming up to her and stopping at her side. Oreonna wiped her eyes and looked up to see a woman staring down at her, she wore a fancy business suit and had brown wavy hair, Oreonna wasn't sure, but she thought she remembered seeing this woman at her recital._

 _The stranger offered Oreonna a hand, and the cat faunus immediately recoiled away from it. The woman smiled reassuringly, "It's okay," she said, "I'm here to help."_

 _Oreonna wasn't sure if she could trust this stranger, but then she noticed her eyes, they were the same shade of pink as Oreonna's. She'd never met anyone with eye's like hers, they were a very rare trait, and there was something... comforting about them. But what Oreonna found really strange was that she could have sworn the woman's eyes had been blue a second ago..._

 _Hesitantly Oreonna reached a small hand out towards the smiling woman who gently held it with her own, "Let's find your daddy, hm?" she said calmly._

 _Oreonna sniffled and put her violin back into the broken case, sandwiching it under her arm to keep it closed. She walked hand in hand with the brown haired woman through the crowded streets. Oreonna wiped her eyes again, the woman was silent the entire time they walked, but whenever the cat girl looked up at her the stranger gave her a warm smile. Oreonna felt a little better now that she wasn't alone anymore, but she was still scared. This was a stranger after all, no matter how nice she was being their was no telling what she was thinking or where she was actually taking the kitten faunus, the small girl was basically at her mercy in a strange city. But then Oreonna saw the crowd of people before them split apart to reveal... the recital hall!_

 _Relief filled Oreonna at the sight of a familiar landmark, she turned to thank the nice lady, but suddenly felt the woman's hand leave her own and when she looked over, the stranger had disappeared into the crowd. Luckily, before Oreonna could even think about panicking, a familiar voice cried out her name._

 _Oreonna broke into tears again at the sight of her father and ran up to him dropping her violin case as she jumped into his arms. She cried even harder into Tukson's shoulder for a moment and could swear she felt tears on her shoulder too, but that was impossible, her daddy was way to tough and strong to ever cry about anything. Looking over her dad's shoulder she saw Yang and her dad waiting behind them, Yang looked like she'd been crying too as she clung onto her father's leg, she must have been worried about Oreonna as well._

 _Oreonna sniffled loudly and cried, "Daddy, I'm so sorry. I ran off an-and I got my dress all dirty and I-I got lost and I dropped my violin and the case broke and-"_

 _Tukson shh'd his daughter, "It's alright, I'm just glad you're okay. Just-" Tukson's voice cracked for a moment before he continued, "just don't ever do that to me again."_

 _Oreonna nodded, hugging her father even tighter, "That lady found me and brought me back," She muttered._

 _Tukson pulled his daughter back and looked directly into her eyes, his expression suddenly very serious, "What lady?" He asked._

 _Oreonna hesitated for a second before answering, her voice still quivering, "Th-the lady... with the pretty eyes," a look of shock washed over Tukson's face for a moment, his head whipping from side to side as he scanned the crowd for... something, Oreonna wasn't sure what._

 _Unable to find what he was looking for apparently, Tukson just held his daughter protectively against his chest, "It's time to go home, Oreonna," his daughter didn't answer and instead just clung to her father for dear life._

* * *

Oreonna was shaking now, tightly gripping the sides of the sink in front of her. It was all so stupid, one little thing, one bad day in her life and yet it still affected her years later. The cat faunus sighed deeply, she could kill monsters without batting an eye, but put her in a room with fifty strangers and she would collapse in on herself, how pathetic.

Maybe that was the problem though, maybe she was trying to move to fast. The courtyard had been packed with people after all, so perhaps she just needed to start a bit smaller? Reaching into her pocket, Oreonna pulled out her scroll, stored on it was the itinerary for her first day at Shade from Eden Evergreen herself. Oreonna still had about an hour before the orientation ceremony began in the theater, which meant that students should be slowly filing in pretty soon, and that sounded like the perfect chance to introduce herself to her future classmates in small doses.

Taking one final moment to gather her thoughts, Oreonna stepped out of the girls bathroom. As she exited, she saw a strange orange blur of a person slip into the boys room, snickering to themselves. _That's... ominous_ , Oreonna thought to herself, but she just shrugged it off and made her way to the theater.

Oreonna was blown away at the sight of the massive auditorium when she entered, hundreds of seats surrounded the stage, as well as a couple hundred more on the balconies above. Now that she was able to appreciate her surroundings more, Oreonna was able to fully take in the architecture of Shade Academy, the expertly carved decorations and murals hand painted onto each wall of the expansive room were a sight to behold. The curved edge of the stage was lined with a dark red curtain obscuring whatever was on it. The cat faunus musical interest made her marvel at the possible acoustics of this theater, her mind going back to the many recitals she'd had in her lifetime, but she'd never played in a place like this. That wasn't why Oreonna was here today though, and unfortunately as massive as this place was, it was also empty... almost.

Over on the opposite end from where Oreonna had entered was a girl sitting on the edge of one of the middle rows. Her silver hair was trimmed short in front and back, but long braids hung in front of her ears on each side of her head. Silver armor covered her torso, arms and legs with what looked like a black bodysuit underneath, a short silver cape hung over her right shoulder, a symbol of a sword in a circle on it. She appeared to be human from what Oreonna could tell from this distance, no animal traits seemed to be apparent. Oreonna hadn't realized it before, but it seemed like humans appeared to be in the minority in this kingdom, the ratio of human to faunus was far different from Vale. The girls eyes were fixated on the scroll in her hands, her finger sliding quickly across the screen as her eyes devoured the information it presented. Oreonna hoped she could move into the same row as her and maybe see if she could strike up a conversation at her own speed, but the cat faunus barely took a step before the silver haired girls head shot up, a pair of burning orange eyes stared a hole through Oreonna. Maybe this girl was a faunus, her hearing seemed to be as good as one.

The paranoid girl gave Oreonna a surprised look for about half a second before her face morphed into a glare, Oreonna was taken aback for a moment by the hostility of the girl, so much so she immediately broke eye contact. So Oreonna decided to take a seat in a different row from the aggravated girl, but still, she could practically feel the stare on the back of her head. _What's her problem?_ Oreonna thought to herself, she hadn't even said a word to this girl yet and she was acting like she'd committed some great sin by just being in the same room as her!

A few moments passed and Oreonna looked back to see if the angry looking girl was still trying to kill her via glaring, but when she looked up all she saw was empty seats, and the girl walking out the exit of the theater without a word. A part of Oreonna was happy to see her leave, something about that girl just ticked that cat faunus off and if the incredibly hostile human wanted nothing to do with her, she could say with a certainty that the feeling was mutual. But another part of Oreonna just saw the whole experience as another failure in her quest to get to know new people. Luckily, before despair could set in, Oreonna heard the sound of people approaching the theater entrance. Optimism reinvigorated her, she was already in place, all she had to do was wait for the seats to fill up and someone was bound to sit next to her, then small talk would begin and she'd find her place in this new environment in no time!

Well it turns out Oreonna was correct in most of her assumptions, the seats had filled up, the entire new student body had settled in as the ceremony was set to begin in a few minutes. Unfortunately, the seats on Oreonna's left and right had remained tauntingly empty. Oreonna started to grind her teeth together, her left eye twitching in annoyance, what was wrong with these people!? Here she was giving them every chance to interact with her, and they treated her like she was some kind of outcast! Was there something wrong with her? Did she smell or something? Had she done something wrong? Did they just not like her? Why... why was this so hard for her... making friends wasn't supposed to be this difficult, right?

As the questions began to haunt the young faunus girl she hung her head, she felt an unmistakable pain in her chest: the pain of isolation. The fact that she was thousands of miles away from any familiar, friendly faces was already getting to her, homesickness had set in much faster than Oreonna would have liked. So she sat there, in a theater full of strangers, staring at her own feet on the concrete floor, she couldn't remember ever feeling so alone or out of place in her life.

Suddenly she saw a pair of orange and black sneakers enter her vision, "Heya!"

Oreonna raised her head to the sound of a chipper voice and the owner of the strangely colored pair of shoes. The smile the boy looking down at her was wearing was massive. On his head sat a mess or orange spiky hair with a pair of canine looking ears sticking out of the top, a collection of dark spots on each of them. He wore a black vest with orange colored fur trimmings around his neck and torn sleeves, his matching shorts had an emblem depicting a fist inside a spiral on the right side just above the pair of knee pads on each leg. But the part that Oreonna was fixated on was the metal gauntlets on the boys forearms, they were clearly some kind of weapon, though it appeared inactive. However, Oreonna's message from the headmistress made it clear that all weapons were to be stored with the students luggage to be picked up after the assembly. Did this faunus boy have special privileges? Or did he just not care?

Regardless, Oreonna raised her head and offered a weak wave with a barely audible "Hello?" trying her best not to sound like a shy, awkward loner.

The faunus boy's smile grew larger at her acknowledgement, flashing his sharp canines before he responded, "So I couldn't help but notice you being a shy, awkward loner and sitting all by yourself."

Oreonna's head slumped back down, hope dying inside her just as fast as it had been born, "Yeah," she grumbled, "what about it?" she really wasn't in the mood for a conversation now, especially with this currently unwanted company.

But if the orange haired boy got any hint of Oreonna's horrible mood, he showed no signs of it, "Well I was hoping that maybe we could try being awkward, antisocial dorks together! Mind if I pop a squat?"

Was this boy for real? After an opening line like that he expected her to just let him sit next to her? Oreonna was tempted to send him on his way, but the old saying about beggars and being choosers came to mind and Oreonna sighed, "If by that you mean, 'Can you sit here?' and nothing else, then sure, knock yourself out," she relented, fully willing to disengage this aggressively annoying member of her race and just wallow in her quiet misery.

Unfortunately for Oreonna, her peace lasted all of a few seconds as the hyena faunus plopped into the seat next to her, propping his feet up on the back of the headrest in front of him and immediately continued addressing his new acquaintance, "So, introductions? Or are you gonna make me do all the work here?" the boy said, the same goofy smile on his face.

The cat faunus sighed again, crossing her arms before begrudgingly introducing herself, "Oreonna Delsole."

"Well, Oreonna, the names Oran, Oran Bellows," Oran offered a hand to the cat faunus, "and I'll be your entertainment this evening." Oreonna gave Oran a deadpan expression, ignoring the purposed handshake, she was not impressed. Oran smile settled into a smirk, "Heh. No dice, huh?" he said.

"Nope," Oreonna said flatly.

"And I'm coming across as annoying, right?"

"Kinda."

"And I suppose right about now your thinking about punching me in the face just to shut me up for two seconds?"

Oreonna let out a small chuckle as she pictured that, "Well..."

"But at least you're smiling now," Oran interrupted.

Oreonna hadn't even realized it, but yes, she was smiling, for what felt like the first time since she'd arrived in Vacuo as a matter of fact, "Heh, I guess I am." Oreonna said, her mood improving slightly thanks to the admittedly strange faunus she'd just met, "Thanks, Oran."

The hyena boy held a hand up in front of himself, "No thanks necessary, improving moods threw laughs is my passion. Well, that, and punching monsters in the face, but everyone needs a hobby I guess," Oreonna snickered a bit and Oran's smile broadened, he really did seem to enjoy making people happy.

"Okay then," Oreonna said, "But why me? I mean, their has to be someone else here more unhappy than I was," Oreonna thought back to the bitter looking silver haired girl from earlier, if anyone could stand to lighten up a bit, it was her.

Oran shrugged, "Honestly?" he said hesitantly, "You uh... kind of stand out a bit."

"Um... how?" Oreonna asked. Oran said nothing but instead pointed at Oreonna's head, or rather, her hair, "Oh..." Oreonna said, a flicker of disdain in her voice. Of course it was her hair, her stupid, freakish, two tone colored hair.

 _Thanks, mom,_ Oreonna thought to herself bitterly, cursing the inherited trait from her mothers side, not for the first time in her life either. It's true, Oreonna wasn't a huge fan of her natural polarizing hair color, not enough to every think about changing it, but the unwanted attention it brought annoyed her to no end. Granted, strange hair colors were kind of the norm in Remnant, every color of the rainbow seemed to be represented, but an even split of colors right down the middle? That was incredibly more rare and everyone was quick to bring it up. When she was a kid everyone had to comment on it, or worse, touch it, luckily that came to an end once she got older, or more accurately, once she started carrying a loaded weapon to school with her everyday. But even as a teenager, with her extra set of ears she could still hear the comments people made about it as soon as she entered a room. Did she dye it? It's so unnatural. Who's she trying to impress? Their was seemingly no end to it. It was the only thing her mother had left her and it brought her so much grief, well... it wasn't the _only_ thing she supposed, thinking about the locket still sitting in her left pocket.

"Hey, don't take it the wrong way," Oran said, playfully nudging Oreonna in the side with his elbow, "you're talking to a guy who has been confused for a shaggy traffic cone more than once."

Oreonna laughed, and once again Oran was beaming. She hadn't been so sure at first, but Oran was steadily growing on her. He was a bit rough around the edges, but he spoke his mind, and in the end, he really did make her feel better. Suddenly the thought of having friends at this place didn't seem so impossible to Oreonna. There was something still bothering the cat faunus though, as she studied Oran's hands she noticed the metal of his gauntlets seemed to extend from his forearms to his hands, all the way to his finger tips, with gaps in them for the joints. This wouldn't be so strange if it weren't for the fact that they seemed so... attached, like there was no room for his actual hands to fit inside them...

Before Oreonna could ask him about it, a voice raised above all the others in the room, "Attention, students."

Oreonna as well as some of the other students turned their attention to the stage, there stood Eden Evergreen, headmistress of Shade Academy, but when Oreonna looked at her, she had to do a double take. Ms. Evergreen wore the same style outfit she'd worn when she'd first met with the cat faunus, the long green dress looking very familiar, but at the same time, everything about her looked completely different. She looked... vibrant was the only word that came to mind to describe her, her emerald hair still hung loosely past her shoulders, but now the flowers in it seemed to be in full bloom and more numerous than ever, and there were even more on her antlers. Her eyes, her skin, her tattoos, even her clothes all seemed to shine with more life than ever. Hell, she even looked ten years younger now! How was that possible? What was the difference between now and their first meeting?

The headmistress stood on the stage before her student body, and next to her stood a man who... well, to say Oreonna found his appearance unsettling would be an understatement. He was long and lanky, standing almost a foot taller than the already impressively tall Eden, not counting her antlers. He was dressed in almost all black with a fancy dress jacket that matched his slacks, there was a white handkerchief in the suits front pocket and long coattails in the back that almost reached down to his polished, black, penny loafers. Underneath he wore a dark blue vest over a white button up shirt, a black tie hanging loosely around his neck. On his hands were a pair of pristine white gloves that matched the mans pale complexion, how someone who lived in the desert could avoid enough sunlight to maintain such a skin tone was a mystery to be solved another day. His hair was pitch black as well, slicked back over his head with a few errant strands hanging out in front of the pair of round spectacles sitting over his blood red irises. If this didn't create a sense of unease at his appearance, then the pair of pointy bat ears on each side of his head certainly completed the look. He was a faunus, clearly, as he gazed out into the sea of students in front of him an innocent smile spread across his face that made Oreonna shudder. The cat faunus looked over to see that Oran was also a little uncomfortable being under this mans piercing stare. However, most of the other students were far too busy still talking to each other to notice the strange aura emanating from the faunus.

Eden Evergreen's eye twitched in annoyance at her new students as they continued to talk over her, showing a clear lack of respect for their new headmistress. Slowly she raised her left arm up, causing her sleeve to roll back revealing more of the tattoos on her forearm as well as a trio of vines which slithered out of her gown, with a quick motion of her wrist, the vines snapped out towards the audience before whipping back in mid air and creating a deafening crack. This gave Eden the full attention of every student in the room, eliciting a surprised gasp from more than a few.

Eden smiled with satisfaction before approaching the microphone in front of her, "That's better," she said, a note of smugness in her voice, "Welcome students, to Shade Academy, the place where you will strive to uphold the honor and discipline of the profession's of huntsmen and huntresses," Eden exclaimed with pride. Then her face took on a darker expression, "but you already knew that, I'm sure. Let me tell you all something you may not know," Eden closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, "Your time here, the next four years for some, will be the single most difficult experience of your lives. I wish I could say that all of you will make it, that success awaits each and every one of you, but the truth is that many of you will fail."

Edens words sent a chill through Oreonna, "Well, that's uplifting," Oran whispered to her.

"Whether it'll be discovering this life is not for you, or perhaps at the claws and fangs of the many Grimm that plague our world, this academy may well be where your journey ends," the crowd of students went deadly silent. If intimidation had been the headmistresses intention, she'd succeed. Then the elder faunus opened her eyes, her green irises shined with determination as she continued, "But for those few that succeed, those illustrious few that are willing to devote their lives to a cause so much greater than themselves, your time here will put you on the path to greatness," Eden's proud smile returned, "Each and every one of you has this potential within you, and if you dedicate yourselves to mastering the knowledge and skills you acquire here, you will graduate this prestigious academy as full fledged hunters. With the potential to one day have the chance to be a part of the same tales of heroes that shape our society, a chance to become truly legendary."

The crowd remained silent at the conclusion of Edens speech, though the mood in the air seemed slightly less discouraging now. It was as if Eden's sense of purpose had been transferred into each and every student in attendance. Oreonna couldn't speak for everyone, but she herself had never felt more motivated and determined to become a huntress. She never assumed this life would be an easy one, but like she'd told Professor Branwen back at Signal: This was the only life she'd ever wanted.

"Your initiation will take place tomorrow morning in the catacombs. I look forward to seeing what you all can do," Eden said before turning to bring attention to the man in black at her side, "With that, I'd like to introduce you all to Professor Neight," the pale man bowed his head in a theatrical manner as Eden stepped aside to allow him access to the microphone.

"Thank you, madame," The mans voice was almost jarring and didn't seem to fit his appearance. It was warm, inviting, and... Oreonna found it oddly calming, like he was speaking directly to her and there was no one else in the room, eerie to say the least, "Tonight you all will be spending the evening in the commissary. Bedding has been provided, but please take this time to gather any of your belongings you may require tonight. The rest of your luggage will be transferred to your dorm rooms tomorrow after initiation. Your weapons may be stored in your assigned lockers at this time as well," the bat faunus offered another polite bow to the crowd, "Enjoy your rest, children, you will need it," a sly smile spread across his face as he regained his posture and turned to leave the stage with Miss Evergreen.

"Yeah, totally gonna sleep like a baby after that," Oran said sarcastically as he got up to leave. Oreonna took a moment to look back down at the stage just as Professors Evergreen and Neight walked off, it was going to be an interesting few years, that was for certain.

Slowly students began piling out of the theater, many of them still quietly processing their new headmistresses words. To Oreonna's relief, Oran stuck with her as they both walked down the winding hallways towards where their belongings had been stored after being taken off the airships. As they went, Oreonna noticed the girls bathroom she'd had her -albeit brief- emotional breakdown earlier, but what caught her eye was that the boys room next to it seemed to have been flooded, water leaking out into the hallway. Multiple wet floor cones were set up outside the bathroom, and one lone janitor stood outside, futilely mopping up the mess. As Oreonna passed by she couldn't help but remember the giggling orange blur she'd noticed enter the boys room earlier when she'd walked by, she looked over to the orange haired teen next to her suspiciously. She saw Oran with his eyes shut tight and his mouth barely containing the laughter building behind it. Once they were finally out of view of the incident, Oran bent forward and started howling with laughter.

"Was that you?" Oreonna asked, but it really was a question that didn't need to be answered at this point.

"What, me?" Oran said, slowly regaining his composure, "How dare you accuse me of plugging all the sinks in that bathroom and turning the water on full blast while everyone was in the auditorium," Oran put on a look of fake hurt and brought his hand to his chest as if he'd been physically wounded by the accusation, "That is an incredibly childish and yet, hilarious prank you are accusing me of, Oreonna."

"You really think it's a smart move to be pulling a stunt like that on the first day?" Oreonna asked.

"Oh come on," The faunus boy replied, waving off the cat girl, "It's just a little fun, it'll help loosen everyone up for the school year. No one's getting hurt, and it's not like anyone's going to know it was me anyway."

" _Oran Bellows report to the headmistresses office immediately,_ " A voice chimed in over the PA system, almost on cue.

"Oh... well then..." Oran sounded a little surprised when he spoke, "Uhh... remember me as a hero my dear friend, Oreonna," Oran said putting his hands on the smaller cat faunus shoulders.

Oreonna rolled her eyes at him, "Ah yes, worry not, for they shall tell stories of the great Oran Bellows: bane to all custodial staff and destroyer of bathrooms," she said.

Oran winced a bit, "Ehhh maybe work on that title a bit first. It sounds a little... misleading," with a chuckle Oran offered a short wave to Oreonna as he turned to head in the opposite direction to meet his fate at the hands of the headmistress. The cat eared girl smiled. She didn't approve of his actions, and she certainly didn't envy whatever punishment was surely awaiting him, but it had been nice having someone to chat with. Now however, it seemed like she was on her own again.

* * *

The large cafeteria had been supplied with hundreds of sleeping bags neatly organized into rows, of course, that was almost immediately ruined when the new student body arrived and they shuffled all of them to form their own groups with their friends. As for Oreonna, she'd found some unoccupied bedding and settled into a quite spot next to the wall, with the shattered moon shining in through the large windows behind her.

A few hours had past and most of the students had settled down and were trying to get some sleep for tomorrow. Oreonna however was still wide awake laying back on her pillow, her hands behind her head, staring up at the ceiling with one leg resting on the knee of the other. She wore her usual night wear of a black tank top and grey pajama pants that she'd grabbed from her luggage, along with her toiletries, an oddly shaped case, and the book her father had undoubtedly slipped into her bag before she left without her knowing. A last minute gift for her to read in her spare time she assumed, Oreonna smiled at the thought, even hundreds of miles away, her dad was still looking out for her. The cat faunus felt another shot of homesickness wash over her, but honestly, she thought her first day could have gone a lot worse. Hell, she'd even made a friend! Granted she barely new Oran, but it was just nice to have someone she kind of knew here. Although, she was more than a little worried that she hadn't seen any sign of the hyena boy in hours. Most likely, Professor Evergreen had found a more than suitable punishment for the faunus prankster's little joke, the headmistress seemed like the last kind of person Oreonna would want to be on the bad side of.

Honestly, the entire day had just been completely emotionally exhausting, and yet Oreonna still found herself wide awake. Mostly due to the timezone change probably, she was a few hours off and she'd been told it'd take some time for her to get used to the new sleep schedule, but it seemed to be more than that. She'd tried everything; She'd read her dads book until her head hurt, she'd checked the news on her scroll, she'd even started counting the ceiling tiles in the cafeteria, but even when she got up to 147, still she wasn't even remotely tired. As she looked over at the strangely shaped case next to her sleeping bag, she knew why she was still awake. For around the fifth time that night, she sat up, and popped the latches on the case and looked inside. It was her violin, not her weapon; Symphonic Discord, but just a regular wooden violin.

You see, Oreonna had a little ritual she liked to do every night, before she went to sleep, she'd always play her violin. Ever since she could remember she always did this, it just helped her relax and put her in the right mindset for a good nights sleep. So every night, she'd play the same song, one she'd come up with herself actually, she didn't really know where the melody had come from, it just kind of... came to her one day. Her dad had dubbed it "Oreonna's Lullaby" since it always helped him fall asleep when he heard her play it through the paper thin walls of their apartment, she wondered if her father as having trouble sleeping tonight without it...

Oreonna groaned out loud, such thoughts really weren't helping her get to sleep. I mean, she COULD just play it here but... she didn't want anyone to hear. It had nothing to do with stage fright, Oreonna was no stranger to playing in front of people, she'd had more recitals than she could count growing up before she started focusing on becoming a huntress. It was just... the song was hers, and her fathers, she supposed, Oreonna had never played it for other people before. Also randomly starting to play the violin in a room full of people was bound to attract more of that attention Oreonna was really hoping to avoid.

But the more she thought about it, the more these excuses seemed incredibly stupid and selfish to Oreonna. She wasn't going to be able to avoid this forever, her playing was part of how she fought after all, and without practice she'd never succeed here. So finally, after a few more minutes of internal struggling, the cat faunus looked around the cafeteria. There were a few groups of students still awake, chatting and laughing away, and the ones that had fallen asleep were pretty far away from her, so they probably wouldn't be disturbed. Stealthily, Oreonna removed the violin from it's case, taking the bow in her other hand and then giving the room another quick paranoid scan to see if anyone had noticed her, which of course, they had not, she was being ridiculous at this point, and she knew that. She could just play a few notes quietly, satisfy her urge, and then turn in for the night without anyone being the wiser. So after moving onto her knees for better posture, she brought her violin up to her left collar bone, centered her elbow under it, and gently rest the bow on the strings and started to play softly.

The slow melody was soothing to her ears, the song so familiar to her that the violin seemed to play itself. Oreonna was so entranced by it that she closed her eyes for a moment, she felt calm and secure, like she was home in her room back in Vale with her dad. She poured all her emotions from the day, positive and negative, into her playing, visualizing releasing them out into the night sky. She smiled softly as she neared the end of the piece, already feeling better. As she finished the last few notes, she felt like she was going to be okay in her new home, as long as she could have quiet moments like this to herself she-

"That was beautiful,"

Oreonna's eyes shot open at the sound of the strangers voice, her grip on her violin faltered in her surprise and she fumbled to catch it before it hit the ground,

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Oreonna looked up and saw a familiar looking tall blonde girl sitting cross legged in front of her, it was the same cow faunas that she had failed so spectacularly at interacting with earlier in the courtyard. She was also now dressed in her nightwear, a yellow t-shirt and a pair of brown short shorts, her hair had been released from it's bun and hung loosely just above her shoulders. She looked at Oreonna apologetically with her big brown eyes, "Like I said, that song of yours was really pretty," the girl smiled sweetly at the cat faunus, "do you know any others?"

Oreonna was too busy trying to slow her accelerated heart beat from the surprise to try and form coherent sentences at the moment, "U-um..." she stammered out.

The blonde girl slapped a hand against her own forehead in dismay, "Oh god, I'm coming on a bit too strong aren't I? Let me try again," she cleared her throat and then offered a hand to Oreonna, "I'm Maybelle, but my friends just call me May."

Oreonna grabbed the outstretched limb more out of reflex than anything, her smaller hand almost engulfed in Maybelle's larger one, but the girls grip was gentle and warm, much like her expression. Oreonna was still a bit in shock over the girls sudden appearance, but she seemed friendly enough. So she shook the tall blondes hand while staring vacantly at Maybelle's face.

The taller girl looked at her expectantly for a moment until the social awkward cat faunus realized she was waiting for her to introduce herself as well, "OH! Uh... Oreonna. My name's Oreonna... Oreonna Delsole. It's uhhh.. very nice to m-meet you," Oreonna cringed at her own stutter and generally less than smooth introduction.

May offered her another warm smile, "Nice to meet you too..." the cow faunus gave Oreonna a strange look, "Um... can I have my hand back now?" she asked.

Oreonna suddenly realized she was still tightly griping the poor girls hand and jerked hers away like it had just become boiling hot, much like her face was now, as seemingly all the blood in Oreonna's body rushed to her cheeks. Maybelle covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to conceal her giggles, the quiet laugh was a stark contrast to the roaring chuckle she'd displayed back in the courtyard where the two of them had nearly met the first time.

"So, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's try this again," May continued, thankfully not willing to dwell on Oreonna's embarrassment, "I really like your violin playing, do you now any other songs?"

Oreonna's mind went blank, like every song she'd ever learned had escaped her mind in some kind of massive prison break, apparently it did have something to do with stage fright, at least now it did. But playing for one person was way different than playing for a crowd, and push come to shove Oreonna would always prefer the anonymity of a crowd of faces to just one person solely focused on her playing.

"I'm.. actually kinda exhausted," Oreonna lied, now being more awake then ever, "I think I'm gonna turn in now. Big day tomorrow, right? Heh heh..."

Oreonna felt a flash of pain at the disappointment on May's face, "Yeah, I getcha, but if you want, you can come sit and chat with my group until you go to sleep. I'm sure Gwen and Neb would love to meet you."

Oreonna was actually a little touched at Maybelle's offer, but she'd had more than enough social interaction for one day, "Thanks Maybelle, but I'm pretty tired. Maybe I'll get to meet them tomorrow?" Oreonna refused as politely as possible.

May nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I'm pretty beat too," May said standing up to her full -quite impressive- height, as she went to leave, "Thanks for the free concert though," The cow faunus gave her another dazzling smile that made it impossible for Oreonna to resist smiling back, "Good luck tomorrow," May added before she turned and left.

Oreonna smiled to herself as she began putting her prized violin back into it's case, her appetite for music had been sated for one evening. She was a little sad she hadn't gotten to know Maybelle better tonight, but hopefully she'd get the chance to spend more time with her in the future, she was actually looking forward to seeing her again. For now, Oreonna was ready to sleep, her mind finally at ease. However, her good mood only lasted until she heard the laughter.

The cafeteria had quieted dramatically since most of the people in it had fallen asleep, and with her extra set of ears their was no way she'd have missed it. Oreonna's head turned to see the source of the laughing and saw it was coming form a couple of girls across the room. One of them had purple hair, and the other had black, but the confusing part was they were talking to Maybelle. The two girls -Neb and Gwen if Oreonna had to guess- shot a glance over at the cat faunus before breaking into laughter again.

Were they laughing... at her?

Maybelle laughed back at the two, albeit less confidently, like her heart wasn't in it. Then she looked over at Oreonna as well, and immediately looked away again. Oreonna narrowed her eyes, what was so funny? They had just had a nice chat, hadn't they? Was she missing something? Had it all been a lie? Was it all just so she could make fun of her behind her back? It was possible Oreonna was overthinking things again, but then why couldn't Maybelle look her in the eye now? The uncertainty of the situation only caused Oreonna to jump to more conclusions.

Of course it had been a lie. Why not? Let's all make fun of the weird violin girl, she's an easy target, right? Sitting all by herself with no one to back her up. Oreonna's hand curled up into fists, though ultimately she had no idea where to direct this anger she was suddenly feeling. She could take it out on her aggressors, but what would that accomplish? She did her best to deflect the feelings that were overtaking her, besides, it's not like Oreonna needed them anyway. She was here to become a huntress, not to make friends. Of course that was an easy thing for her to think now, but it was still hard to ignore the pain she was experiencing. _They aren't worth it,_ Oreonna thought, moving her sleeping bag parallel to the wall and laid down on it with her back to the other occupants of the room. She could still hear the laughing, so she picked up her pillow and put it over her head to drown out the sound, which worked, but the damage was already done, as she felt her throat tighten and her eyes start to burn, a harsh pain tugging at her chest. Suddenly her day didn't seem so great or successful, funny how one bad moment can ruin everything. She'd tried so hard to make friends, to come out of her shell, and almost nothing had gone right. Sure, there was Oran, but with her luck he probably got expelled for the bathroom incident.

Oreonna shut her eyes tightly, she could feel the tears coming, but there was no way she was going to top off this awful day with crying herself to sleep. _They aren't worth it_ , she repeated to herself.

She thought about Yang, and how she was probably having the time of her life at Beacon with Ruby, she wished she was there with them, but she wasn't, fate had decided otherwise. She had to be strong on her own now, but as she lay awake there in a kingdom far away from home, Oreonna couldn't help but start to regret every coming to Shade.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N- There you go, a little sad cliffhanger for all you guys and gals. Also we got to meet a few new OC's of mine! I wonder if they'll be important down the road, or maybe I just made them to be killed off in initiation? Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out! (YES! HOOKED 'EM!). Also snuck in a hint at a couple of other canon characters that some of you might remember from Volume 3. We'll be seeing more of them (as well as their team) in this story too.**

 **I hope you all like my little version of Shade Academy too. It's no Emerald City, nor is it sitting precariously on top of giant mountains, but it's got... termites? I guess? Whatever.**

 **Next time- Initiation begins! It's gonna be similar to Beacon's but also a little different. What secrets lie beneath the surface at Shade Academy?**


	7. Building Bridges to Burn

**Chapter 7- Building Bridges to Burn**

To say that Oreonna had gotten a bad nights sleep would have been an understatement, she'd spent all night tossing and turning in her sleeping bag on the crowded cafeteria floor of Shade Academy. Sleeping in a strange new place, coupled with the anxiety that plagued the young faunus after her interaction with Maybelle made sure that as soon as she'd finally fallen asleep the other students camping out in the room with her started stirring, and so Oreonna begrudgingly awoke with them.

Breakfast was a haze to the cat faunus for the most part, she couldn't claim to have much of an appetite at the time, but Oreonna knew an empty stomach was just going to slow her down so she manged to force a couple slices of toast down her throat. She also knew she couldn't exactly zombie walk in a half asleep state through her initiation either, which lead to what felt like horrible mistake number 28,000 she'd made since arriving at Shade; Drinking coffee. Oreonna HATED coffee, the taste, the smell, everything down to the number of vowels in the word. Nothing about the bitter drink appealed to the black and white haired girl, but desperate times called for desperate measures, so Oreonna choked down a cup of the caffeinated beverage with her breakfast in order to help recover from her poor nights rest.

So now her she was, wandering down the massive wood covered hallways of Shade with what felt like brick of cement in her stomach thanks to the accursed coffee. The worst part was that it didn't even really help, instead of being tired and miserable, she was now almost painfully awake and miserable. The cat girl felt the beginnings of a migraine starting to appear in her head, ugh, she needed to focus on something else.

So Oreonna's mind wandered to the cause of her misery; Maybelle. Just the thought of the cow faunus made her scowl, Oreonna still had no idea what she'd done to her to deserve such treatment. The cat girl had just been minding her own business, awkwardly trying to adjust to a new kingdom, and Maybelle had taken it upon herself to single her fellow faunus out for a quick laugh between the blondes friends and herself. The whole situation still baffled Oreonna, Maybelle had seemed so friendly and genuine with her, but apparently it had all been an act to lower the cat girls guard so the betrayal would hurt that much more.

Oreonna's teeth clenched and her hands balled into fists, she was thankful that her initiation would probably help her deal with all this pent up aggression that had steadily been building all morning. Oreonna still had no idea what exactly her initiation here at Shade would entail, but she had to assume based on the occupation the students here would be training for, it would most likely involve killing some bloodthirsty monsters. Oh yeah, she could definitely go for that right about now.

Finally Oreonna arrived at the locker room along with a crowd of other huntsmen and huntresses in training. She walked over to open the locker she'd been assigned the previous night, she'd already changed into her combat gear earlier that morning, so all that was left was to grab her weapon. Usually the sight of Symphonic Discord was a source of comfort for the cat faunus, but today the violin shaped weapon only served as a reminder of what had happened last night. Oreonna sighed deeply before picking up her weapon, she placed the violin shield on the magnetic grip on her back and sheathed her bow sword at her hip.

She stood there for a second looking into her mostly empty locker, marveling at the emotional shift one could go through in just 24 hours. Yesterday at this time she'd been just touching down in Mirage, practically bouncing with excitement at finally getting to live her dream at the world renowned Shade Academy. Now, she felt trapped miles away from home without a friend in the world, and she could attest it was not a great feeling.

Oreonna sighed again as she went to close her locker, but then she saw it, her mothers necklace was hanging from one of the coat hooks inside the metal container. She'd hung it there after the locket had fallen out of her pocket when she'd changed into her pajamas last night, she may not WANT it, but she also didn't want to lose it. The cat faunus stared at the jewelry, it did little to improve her mood overall, and in that moment Oreonna found herself thinking about her mom. She'd been the first person to disappoint Oreonna, to make her feel like she was worthless. Oreonna felt a familiar fire start burning inside her as she thought about the mysterious woman. She wouldn't let Neo be proven right, her mother was wrong about her, she was NOT worthless, and she was looking forward to proving that fact to her and everyone else that had ever made her feel that way.

 _One day..._ she thought to herself _, one day I'll find her, and I'll prove it to her myself._

At the same time, as Oreonna looked at the small golden trinket, she found herself thinking about her father as well. The man who'd made every sacrifice he possibly could to get his daughter to this academy, he'd nearly worked himself to death even. Despite everything that'd happened here to discourage her, the thought of her dad's smiling face and the proud look in his eyes as he saw Oreonna off to Vacuo made a small glimmer of happiness swell inside her. After a few more seconds of internal deliberation, the cat faunus huffed as she snatched the locket off it's hook and hung it around her neck. She decided to wear it. certainly not for her mother, but for her father instead. It wasn't exactly what her dad had wanted when he gave it to her, but it was close enough. Who knows, maybe it'd bring her a little luck today? She certainly felt like she could use it. Oreonna held the trinket in her small hand, for some reason she felt compelled to open it and look at the picture inside...

"YO! Oreo!" the outburst from behind made Oreonna's ears -both sets- perk up, she turned to see a familiar orange haired faunus approaching her with that same giant white toothed smile on his face. Oran hurried over to her side and leaned lazily on the locker next to hers, "Miss me?" he asked with a wink.

Oreonna just rolled her eyes at the hyena faunus, "Well I'm happy to see you didn't get expelled from Shade on your first night here, but 'miss' might be a bit of a stretch though," Oreonna lied. Honestly, she had missed the mischievous faunus, it was nice to be reminded that not everything had gone wrong since she'd gotten here.

Oran rested his hands behind his head before responding, "What? You thought I'd get kicked out for the bathroom thing? Nah, that was just a bit of fun is all."

"So you got away with it?" Oreonna asked skeptically.

"Well... I didn't say that," Oran replied, "I got a weeks worth of community service and a nasty tongue lashing from the headmistress. Who by the way can be very scary when she wants to be."

"Ouch," Oreonna said sympathetically.

"Yeah, that's where I was all last night, cleaning up my mess with the janitor," Oran's smile returned, "he's actually a really cool guy by the way, we had a nice chat. He goes by Ol' Sweepy. Apparently it was just a nickname that just stuck once he started working here. "

Oreonna gave Oran a strange look, "Ol'... Sweepy? Are you messing with me?" she asked.

"I'm not actually! Seems like something I'd say though, right? That's what's so weird about it!" Oran said, clearly as shocked as Oreonna was about the oddly named janitor, "But anyway, after I finished up there they set me up in one of the empty dorm rooms to sleep. Bed was a little lumpy, but I bet it beat the hell out of sharing a floor with a few hundred strangers, am I right?"

Oreonna flinched a bit as she was reminded of how her night had gone, "Heh. Yeah..." she said as the invisible rain cloud over her head started to downpour on the cat faunus again, "well, I don't want to be late for init-"

Oreonna went to step away from her locker, but was immediately cut off when Oran stepped in front of her. The hyena faunus leaned in close studying Oreonna's understandably confused face with a concerned look. Oreonna stared back, like a deer in headlights she was frozen by Oran's sudden strange behavior, suddenly Oran's eyes went wide in apparent realization, "What happened?" he asked.

"N-nothing?" Oreonna said with a severe lack of conviction in her voice.

Oran crossed him arms in front of his chest and had a... surprisingly serious look on his face, "Well, color me convinced," he said sarcastically.

Oreonna broke eye contact and looked down at the floor, "How could you tell?" she asked dejectedly.

Oran snorted, "Easy, your face has that same gross look as it did when we met yesterday. It's doing that weird... un-smiley thing."

Oreonna gave Oran a deadpan expression, "You mean frowning?"

Oran shuddered, "Ew. Yes. That. Stop it. It's not a good look for you," the faunus boy gave her a reassuring smile, "C'mon, tell me what happened, otherwise I'm gonna have to keep badgering you and being generally hilarious until you crack, so it'd save us both a lot of time if you just told me."

Oreonna sighed, she didn't exactly want to drag Oran into this, but he was right, there was no way he'd let this go. She'd only known him a few hours, but Oreonna could tell Oran was determined to improve her bad mood, plus the fact he seemed so interested in finding out what was bugging her was... nice? She supposed?

"It's... it's not a big deal, really," Oreonna said in one last ditch effort to drop the subject. Oran remained uncharacteristically silent as he waited for her to continue, "...Fine," Oreonna relented. "It's just... some girl was hassling me last night before bed," The cat faunus didn't so much speak the words as she blurted them out, and as much as she hated to admit it, getting it off her chest did make her feel a little better.

Oran's face took on a dark expression, "Who?" he asked bluntly.

Oreonna was a little shocked at the look he had on his face, "Why?" she asked.

"Because Oran J. Bellows has a strict no bullying policy, especially when it comes to his friends."

Oreonna felt a sudden surge of happiness in her when Oran referred to her as a "friend". _WOO! FRIENDSHIP GET!_ She thought as her internal self did a happy little dance in her head, but external Oreonna settled for an appreciative smile as an expression of gratitude. Whether it had just been a slip of the tongue on Oran's part or not, it was still a nice sentiment.

"So where is this 'girl' you speak of?" Oran's tirade pulled Oreonna out of her thoughts, "I'd like to have a word with her," Oran said slightly maliciously, who knew this usually jovial faunus had such a dark side to him?

Oreonna was about to ask what he meant by "have a word", when she suddenly saw a familiar shade of yellow hair as well as a red bandana wrapped around it. Oreonna instantly furrowed her brow at the cow faunus, there she was, at the other end of the room, not a care in the world, pulling a large club like weapon out of her locker, and clearly not even giving a second thought about her actions last night. Oreonna clenched her teeth as her frustration reached a new level, Maybelle really didn't care at all about how she'd hurt her and that just made Oreonna even angrier. Though she wasn't quite angry enough to want to involve Oran in this situation,she really didn't want/need him fighting her battles for her. But unfortunately before she could stop him, Oran had followed Oreonna's line of sight over to Maybelle.

Oran looked at the tall blonde faunus and then turned back to Oreonna with a confused look on his face, then he turned to Maybelle again, and back to Oreonna. This process repeated itself a few more times before Oran finally stopped on Oreonna and he asked, "Wait... is she behind May?"

Oreonna's eyes went wide in shock, "You know her?"

Oran shrugged, "Eh, not super well. We graduated in the same class at Vast, it's kind of a preparatory combat school here in Vacuo. We got along pretty well though, hell, she got along with everyone, really, especially the-" Oran stopped as he looked to be considering his words carefully, "Uhh.. actually, never mind that part, it's not important. Point is, I can't really see her as the hassling type, you sure it was her?" he asked gently.

"Oh jeez, I guess it must have been the other giant blonde woman with cow ears. My bad," Oreonna replied in a harsh tone.

Oran raised his hands in defense, "Whoa, take it easy Oreo. I'm just saying I spent four years seeing that girl almost every day and I never once saw her pull anything like that. Maybe this is all just a big misunderstanding?"

Oreonna shut her locker loudly. She wasn't in the mood for this conversation anymore, "I don't know... maybe..." she said, still unconvinced. But at the same time, Oran had placed a seed of doubt in the cat faunus mind about how she'd perceived the whole interaction. Had she possible misread the situation?... No. No, there was no hidden subtext to this, Oreonna had seen Maybelle's lackeys laughing at her, that, and Maybelle's guilty expression at Oreonna having noticed them was all the evidence she needed. The black and white haired girl scowled at the back of Maybelle's head as the cow faunus left the room, completely unaware of the poisoned glare she'd had directed at her.

Oran stepped over into Oreonna's view, "Besides, even if it was something she did, I usually make it a point not to start arguments with people I need a step ladder to talk to," Oran said, his smile trying desperately to fish a similar one out of his agitated company. It worked for the most part, as a slight grin tugged at the edges of Oreonna's mouth, and that was all the opening the enthusiastic hyena boy needed to continue, "Also I'm pretty sure going up against a cow faunus of her stature would only end in my udder defeat," Oran's smile could probably be seen from another kingdom as Oreonna laughed lightly.

The cat faunus smirked at the orange haired wannabee comedian, "Okay, that one was horrible in so many ways," she said.

Oran waved a finger at Oreonna, "Uh uh uh, you don't get to criticize a terrible joke after you laugh at it. Those are the rules, Oreo."

Oreonna felt a bit of the grief on her mind disappear thanks to her new friend, it was strange how that word no longer felt alien or undeserved in her mind after such a short time. She really liked Oran, in a lot of ways he reminded her of Yang, except shorter, and less hair... also a different gender... and race... okay the resemblance certainly wasn't physical, but there quality in puns was definitely on par, not to mention their caring personalities. Oreonna felt lucky that she'd managed to attract another friend just as compassionate and kind as the one she'd left back in Vale.

"We should probably get going," Oreonna said, "don't want to be late for our first day, right?"

"Lead the way, Oreo," Oran replied, finally moving out of the cat faunus path.

But Oreonna didn't move, she just stared at Oran with another confused look, "Um... aren't you going to grab your weapon?" she asked, looking at Oran's empty hands.

The hyena faunus smirked back raising his hands up in front of him as if he was displaying them to Oreonna, "Already got 'em. I'm a little attached to them if you couldn't tell."

The cat faunus studied her friends gauntlets, confirming her earlier suspicions that they were in fact outfitted for combat, but she also noticed up close that they were actually attached to Oran's arms, just below his elbow. A full prosthetic, his hands weren't even real, his entire forearms were just highly advanced cybernetic replacements. The cat faunus took especial notice of the area where the metal met Oran's flesh, a slight discoloration of skin showing where the two met.

"Not bad, right?" Oran said, noticing Oreonna's staring, "I customized them myself. Robo-arms are fun, but robo-arms that shoot high powered bursts of air capable of blasting down walls? Now that's a party!" he said with a manic grin.

Oreonna continued to study Oran's weaponized forearms as the excited faunus continued to brag about them like a proud father. The cat eared girl liked to believe she was pretty well off in the engineering department, her own weapon being nothing to sneeze at technologically, but these gauntlets were beyond anything she'd ever seen. All the small moving parts and robotic hinges and joints required to make a working hand, as well as a dust distribution unit over the knuckles with a loading chamber just below where Oran's flesh and bone elbow connected to the pair of prosthetic's.

"I'm guessing the awestruck stare is a compliment?" Oran asked the still engrossed Oreonna.

Yeah, she was impressed. Unfortunately she was so interested in the mechanical marvels on display that she asked the next question without bothering to think about the ramifications of it, "Wow, how'd you get them?"

Oreonna's gut dropped the second the question slipped past her lips, _Yeah, bringing up your friends horrible disfigurement. Great job, Oreo._

However, despite Oreonna's disdain at her own natural overwhelming curiosity, Oran seemed to brush off the question with a shrug, "Meh, I just had an accident when I was a kid. Nothing too exciting I'm afraid."

To most, this would seem like a normal response, but Oreonna was keenly aware of how everything about Oran's body language changed when he spoke those words. He broke eye contact, his hands closed up slightly, and that ever present grin on his face faltered for just half a second. Something had happened to the hyena faunus, she could tell, but thankfully, the cat girl could also tell when to drop a subject. Whatever it was, Oran clearly didn't want to get into it and Oreonna was more than happy to change the topic at hand and break up the awkward silence filling the air.

"Well I can't wait to see them in action!" she said trying desperately to get the conversation back on the right track and turn it away before it careened off a cliff in flames, "Let's hurry to initiation then," The cat faunus smiled brightly trying desperately to reignite the smile that had been slipping off Oran's face. It seemed to work, so Oreonna stepped out into the hallway while looking back at Oran to make sure he was following her. "C'mon, we don't want to be-" Oreonna was cut off when she collided with another person as they had been entering the locker room, "AH!" Oreonna squeaked out in surprise, a stammering apology already prepared to spring out, "I'm so sor-" she stopped halfway through as her eyes flashed with recognition at who she'd bumped into.

It was that silver haired girl she'd seen in the auditorium yesterday. There was no way Oreonna would ever forget that glare she'd received less than twelve hours ago, mainly because the exact same one was staring at her right now. The human girls orange eyes were burning a hole right through Oreonna, a look somewhere between disgust and anger in her facial features. Oreonna stepped to the side silently, allowing the aggravated girl to pass. The short haired girl narrowed her eyes at the cat faunus before stomping past her and Oran.

Oreonna's gaze followed the girl as she passed by, one eyebrow raised as the faunus wondered; _Seriously, what is this girls problem?_ she thought to herself Whatever it was, the black and white haired girl decided she didn't want any part of it and turned to leave.

Then the cat ears on top of her head twitched at a sound, a barely audible whisper coming from the girl she'd just passed, a phrase that made Oreonna's blood go cold. She looked over to Oran and judging by his expression of surprise, he'd heard it too. Most days the cat faunus would turn the other cheek and be willing to ignore such a slur against her race, it's wasn't the first time someone had called her... that, and Oreonna found it easier to just ignore anyone despicable enough to use such a word. She hated it though, the word was just another reminder than some humans would never see the faunus as anything more than monsters.

Maybe it was just that the cat girl was having a bad morning, or maybe there was something about this silver haired girl that just really made the hair on the back of Oreonna's neck stand up straight, "Hey!" the cat girl shouted over her shoulder. The silver haired girl stopped, but made no motion to turn and face Oreonna. The ears on the top of the violinists head went flat, she ground her teeth together in anger. Oreonna made sure that when she spoke, everyone in the still quite crowded locker room heard her, human and faunus alike.

"The next time you want to call someone a 'Filthy Grimmspawn' behind their back, maybe make sure they don't have enhanced hearing?" All the eyes in the room turned to face the two of them, and everyone went silent. Oreonna didn't usually go out of her way to be this petty, calling someone out in front of a group of their peers wasn't something she was accustomed to doing, but there was no way she'd stand by and let this girl call her one of the worst slurs a person could call a faunus. Still, she couldn't deny the small sense of satisfaction she got from doing bringing attention to the silver haired girls faux pas.

However, instead of the intended reaction, the girl merely looked back at Oreonna over her shoulder and spoke in a calm, clear voice, "Or perhaps it was your misconception that I didn't intend for you to hear me," The girl gave the cat girl a stone cold glare before continuing to her destination.

Eventually noise returned to the crowded room as the students resumed what they had been doing, many of them were now whispering about what had just transpired. Oreonna was standing there with clenched fists, she REALLY did not like this girl. She'd never actively wished for anyone to be devoured by Beowolves before, but if a pack of them happened to... Oreonna killed the dark train of thought immediately, nothing good would come of thinking that way, but she was still angry. It was a big school though, and the cat faunus took a small bit of comfort in the fact that she'd probably never have to interact with that horrible girl again, and she was more than happy to accept that.

Oreonna looked over to her companion see if Oran felt the same. But instead found him staring at the insufferable silver haired girl with a mischievous grin on his face, "Target acquired," he whispered under his breath.

"Uhh... what?" Oreonna asked a little hesitantly.

"Oh Oreo, don't worry your pretty little head about that," Oran said with a smirk, "let's just say, I love me a challenge."

Before Oreonna could ask just what Oran meant by "challenge", the hyena boy had started walking away. The cat faunus stood there confused for a moment before a light bulb went off in her head, she remembered what Oran had said back when they'd first met, about how "improving moods was his passion." Oreonna looked back once more at Oran's intended "target" as the crabby girl looked around suspiciously at the students around her before reaching into her own locker and pulling out a long dust wand with a curved blade at the end. The cat eared huntress in training had to wonder if even Oran was up to this "challenge".

* * *

Oreonna and Oran made there way down yet another flight of stairs -the fourth one by Oreonna's count- on there way to where initiation would be held. After making there way to the bowels of Shade Academy the two of them arrived at a large crowd of students all standing in front of a pair of humongous iron doors with a long steel bar barricadingthem shut. On the door were numerous engravings of Grimm, all ferocious and snarling, as well as a few smaller figures brandishing swords and bows, fighting to push back the beasts. The cat faunus had to assume these were meant to be huntsmen, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't find the decor slightly intimidating.

On her left, Oran whistled, "Wow, wonder what they keep in there?" he said, "My guess would be Professor Neight's stamp collection."

"Actually," a voice suddenly said from behind the students, making them both jump a good foot or so in surprise, "I keep that under my mattress at home," the suddenly appearing Professor Neight said, smiled innocently, or as innocently as a person with his appearance could, before approaching the two shocked faunus. He towered over the two of them, his figure tall and imposing, his easy smile doing nothing ease the tension in the air. The huntsmen's blood red eyes examined the two faunus before settling on Oran, "Good morning, Mr. Bellows. I trust your punishment from last night hasn't left you overly tired?" the pointy eared faunus asked him.

Oran seemed almost frozen under the gaze of the headmistresses second in command. Eventually he managed to stammer out an elegant response, "Yeah- I mean, no- I mean, no sir- I mean... you are incredibly scary, you know that?

Oreonna face palmed. Not that she blamed her friend for reacting that way, or that she necessarily disagreed with his assessment, but Oran's growing lack of tact was astounding.

The bat eared professor adjusted his glasses as he chuckled lightly, "Well that's good to hear, and Miss Evergreen was just saying I was going soft." With that cryptic and slightly unnerving response, the dark dressed man placed his hands behind his back and strode between Oran and Oreonna, "Best of luck to you today, my boy, you as well, Miss Delsole. I assure you, you will both need every drop of energy to survive what awaits you in the Catacombs."

Before Oreonna could ask the professor how he knew her last name, the black haired faunus had already walked away, the sea of students in front of him parting as he marched through them. The cat and hyena faunus gave each other a look, the feeling of confusion and general discomfort that seemed to radiate off their future teacher sent a chill through them both, "Well, he was just as horrifying up close as I remembered," Oran finally said once he was sure Neight was well out of earshot, "I think I'll take some horrifying monsters now to help me calm down after that."

"Ditto," said Oreonna as she watched the professor skeptically.

Most students paid the creepy faunus no mind as he approached the set of massive doors. Without hesitation, he placed one of his pale, skinny hands against the metal. Suddenly a loud bang rang out and the room went silent. With a metallic screech the steel bar holding the door closed slowly began to slide out of place. Oreonna felt her stomach begin to churn, she wasn't sure if it was out of trepidation or excitement. This was it. All those years of training were about to be tested with whatever awaited her behind these doors. The faunus girl's tail twitched behind her as she bounced an the balls of her feet in anticipation. She was ready, now was not the time to second guess herself. None of what had happened since she got to Shade mattered anymore, this was about her future, her job, her life now, and Oreonna was ready to show the world just what she was made of.

With another loud click the massive doors creaked open revealing a long tunnel made of rock with torches on each side desperately fighting against the inky darkness that seemed to almost flow out of the passageway. All of the students stared into the void silently, each of them wondering what kind of test awaited them... and if they'd survive it.

Professor Neight's voice tore them out of their thoughts when he suddenly began to speak, "Good morning, children," he started with his voice full of the same soothing drawl as before, "Welcome to the first of many trails in your lives as huntsmen and huntresses. I will be taking you in groups of thirty to the central chambers of these dark catacombs to participate in your initiation here at Shade Academy," Neight smirked devilishly, extending a hand towards the darkness of the cave entrance, "Now then, without further ado, your headmistress is waiting."

So Professor Neight took the first group of students down the long corridor and out of sight. He returned ten minutes later alone, to take another group, then another, and another, Oreonna and Oran were in the fifth group of aspiring hunters and were led down the same path as the others.

Even with the torches glowing on each side of them as they walked, the darkness seemed to cast a thick fog around all of them. Oreonna gripped the hilt of her bow sword in apprehension, the dark was never an issue for the young faunus, given her hereditary night vision, but this felt different. It felt like the blackness was alive, hungry even, staring at the group of students, waiting to pick off any that fell behind or showed any weakness. Oreonna was surprised, when you looked at Shade from the outside, you saw a green, lush, environment surrounding the giant, beautiful tree, everything just looked so... alive. But hiding just below the surface, among the roots of that great oak, was something completely the opposite. The air was thick and heavy, almost suffocating, the hostility in the caverns seemed almost palpable, and an overwhelming aura of death was all around them. Oreonna felt another chill travel from the top of her spine all the way down to the tip of her tail, her ears laid flat on her head. The cat faunus looked over to Oran, who was walking next to her, to see if he was also effected by this eerie place. The hyena boy smiled back at Oreonna and gave her a thumbs up, apparently he was not, either that or the faunus boy was very adept at hiding his fear behind that huge ever present smile.

After a few moments of walking, the group reached their destination, it was a wide chamber surrounded by more torches. At it's center was a large circular platform with the symbol for Shade Academy in the middle. There, standing on that symbol, was Eden Evergreen, her hands clasped in front of her with a solemn look on her face, her emerald eyes focused on Professor Neight and she gave him a nod with an appreciative smile. the bat faunus gave the headmistress a deep, theatrical bow before turning to leave down the same corridor the group had come from.

"Gather around students," Eden said, directing her pupils to the smaller circles all around the slab she was standing on. All of the initiates took their places, the mysterious room, accompanied with the torches made the scene look like some kind of bizarre ritual. Oreonna scanned the room curiously, there was only one way in, the way they'd come, and they hadn't passed anyone on the way here... so what happened to the students that had come to his place before them?

Before the cat faunus could further ponder this riddle, Eden began speaking, "Shade Academy; this entire school exists in the shadows of the great tree above us. Without it, we would be unable to survive the harsh environment of the deserts of Vacuo. We live in the darkness, in the shade it provides us, and it is here we will train each of you that prove yourselves worthy. We will sharpen your skills, turning you into the hidden blades that will lash out from that darkness to destroy the monsters that plague the world. But that is the future, today you all will receive your first true trial on your way to becoming a saviors of humanity," Eden raised her arms to gesture to the cavern they all stood in, "Welcome to the Blighted Catacombs. These ruins have existed beneath Shade for as long as it's stood in the deserts of Vacuo. The mighty roots of the great oak are the only things holding back the horrors this place holds. However, where you stand now is only the top level of these accursed catacombs. Beneath our feet is a maze of connecting caverns and ancient pieces of civilizations that faded long ago. It's also home to many subterranean Creature of Grimm."

Oreonna finally had the answer to her earlier question of where everyone had disappeared to. These platforms they were all standing on must be some kind of elevator leading to the lower levels where the true test of their skills awaited.

"Your mission is to merely find your way to the exit, destroying everything that stands in your way," Eden said, narrowing her eyes in seriousness, "Also, if you happen to come across any of your fellow students along the way, I will say it is in your best interest to team up with them. Though this is not required, so you may feel free to refuse," Eden's lips curved into a smirk. "but I can almost guarantee your chances of survival will diminish exponentially."

Upon hearing this, most of the students began scanning their fellow initiates, no doubt trying to decide who they'd wish to be partnered up with once the trial began. Oreonna glanced over to Oran who was already looking her way, the hyena faunus made a finger gun motion with his hands and winked at Oreonna. The cat faunus rolled her eyes at him as she smirked, which seemed to be her go to reaction to the hyena boys antics. Truthfully, she was thrilled to finally have someone at this school to rely on, and she could definitely see herself on a team with the jokester faunus, but there was no reason to let him get a big head about it... well, a bigger head anyway. Regardless she made it her unofficial mission to try and locate Oran first once initiation started.

"Members of the faculty, as well as myself, will be monitoring all of you for the duration of this test," Eden's face took on a grim expression as she continued, "but we will not be intervening. Much like the real world, any mistake you make down here could very well be your last. It is up to all of you to survive this trail and come away more experienced in the lessons it teaches," Miss Evergreen's expression suddenly switched to a more... mischievous look, "Speaking of which, it's time for the first lesson you will learn today. That being; Always expect the unexpected."

Before the students could even wonder what the headmistress meant by that, Eden tapped her foot once on the platform. Oreonna felt a sudden feeling of weightlessness overtake her as she, as well as all the other hunters in training, plummeted through the trap doors beneath them and into the darkness.

Initiation had officially begun.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **A/N- Yay, initiation starto! Sorry I missed my update schedule for the last... (checks watch) TWO WEEKS!? Oh man... I suck... I wish I had an excuse, but I can't think of any good ones beyond "I suck."**_

 _ **So yeah, my plan is to see this story through to the end of what I refer to as "The Blighted Catacombs" arc and then we'll be caught up to where I am now in the story. And I guess depending on how popular this is, I'll keep updating from there or not. Writing is hard.**_

 _ **ANYWAY! Next time- We get back to the action! Meet some fuzzy new Grimm friends! Lessons will be learned! You will be tested at the end! Please bring a number two pencil and a three ring binder full of college ruled paper!** _


	8. The Blighted Catacombs

**Chapter 8- The Blighted Catacombs**

Oreonna's enhanced hearing picked up a few surprised screams from her classmates over the noise of wind rushing past her as she fell. She didn't fall far before she landed on a slick surface, a slide of some kind, which sent her on several twists and turns seemingly meant to disorient her. Before the young faunus' mind could even begin to process the events of the last few seconds, she felt the smoothness of the slide disappear beneath her and the cat eared girl found herself falling once again into darkness.

Oreonna panicked for a half second before those instincts that had developed from years of combat training kicked in and she started analyzing her situation. She was falling, obvious problem, so she needed to find a way to slow her decent, she needn't worry about the landing part yet, that would happen regardless, it's just a matter of how broken her legs were in the process. The question was how would she-

Wind. She needed wind.

Oreonna quickly grabbed her violin shield off her back and her bow sword from her side, she placed the instrument/weapon to her chin and began to play. She needed a lot of dust for this idea to work, Oreonna played the song as fast and furiously as she could, yet the melody was soft and calming and in an instant her sword began to glow with a white light. The cat faunus looked down and could just barely make out the rapidly approaching ground beneath her, she brought her sword back and waited until just the right moment before swinging downward with a yell of exertion. A burst of wind was sent out from the tip of her blade creating a small maelstrom beneath Oreonna which halted her momentum for a few moments in midair. The cat faunus used the time to do a flip to get in a better landing position before falling the few additional yards to the ground, her aura cushioning any remaining damage she might have sustained from the fall.

Finally on solid ground, Oreonna took a moment to calm herself, "Well, that's one way to get the blood pumping," she said as she craned her neck upwards, trying to identify where she'd fallen from, but even with her enhanced sight, she could only make out an inky blackness above her.

Oreonna looked at the dust storage device on her violins tuning pegs and saw the white colored chamber flashing quickly, and then it died out and faded to gray. The cat girl sighed, ten seconds into initiation, and she was tapped out of wind dust already. She hadn't meant to use to use so much in her landing, moderation was always an issue the violinist had struggled with, but luckily, she had no intention of falling into any more bottomless holes today. Her destination was above after all, it was just a matter of finding the right path leading up.

This turned out to be slightly more difficult once Oreonna took in her surroundings for the first time, the cave she'd fallen into was massive with all sorts of dilapidated ancient ruins around her. Pillars and abandoned temples littered the area, the signs of the lost civilization gave off a haunting vibe as her pink eyes observed them. There were torches like there had been above, but there was a lot less of them in this abyss. Oreonna could make out a few different paths leading off into other chambers of the catacombs, and with no sign of any of her classmates or any hints as to where her objective was, the cat faunus shrugged and started walking down the nearest pathway, her weapons at the ready.

She didn't get far before Oreonna froze in place, her tail going still and the cat ears on the top of her head twitching as they picked up a sound. Three sets of footsteps in the distance. For a moment she thought it was some of her fellow students, but as the trio got closer there was a low buzzing noise coming from them, and it sounded... inhuman.

 _Grimm._ Oreonna thought to herself as she brought up Symphonic Discord in front of her.

Sure enough, a group of three monsters stepped out from around the corner. They were about the size of an average Beowolf, a Grimm Oreonna was more than familiar with from her time at Signal, but this creature was different in several key ways. It's three fingered hands ended in foot long claws, the spines on it's back curved upward, it's black hide was covered mostly in scales with patches of black fur sticking out in places, and on their backs were a pair of insect like wings fluttering slightly with each step. But it's face was where the Grimm truly stood out, mainly because it didn't really have one. A bone like mass covered the beasts entire head, coming to a point towards it's front with no gaps for ears, nose or a mouth. In the center of it's "head" was a hole with cracks splintering off the sides down to the edges of the helmet like growth. Inside the cracks and hole was the trademark ominous red glow associated with the markings of a Grimm. The monsters twitched as they moved, their bodies stuttering unnaturally with each step.

 _Terrar's._ Oreonna thought to herself. The cat faunus was always particularity studious when it came to her training as a huntress, she'd spent many long nights reading from her textbook about the creatures of Grimm and the many documented types that had been discovered thus far. Thanks to that knowledge she knew that these subterranean Grimm were just about as threatening as their Beowolf cousins.

Oreonna grinned excitedly before letting out a sharp whistle. The Terrar's heads perked up at the sound and after a horrifying growl, they leapt towards the cat faunus. Oreonna gracefully leapt to the side to dodge the first ones attack, then ducked under the next ones swipe, but the third one she responded to with slicing the beasts left arm off. The Grimm studied it's newly formed stump for a moment, cocking it's head to the side as black ichor poured out, then the Terrar growled and lunged again. Oreonna was ready though, and with a quick slash she liberated the beasts head from it's shoulders. The remaining two Terrar's observed their fallen brethren with their unseen eyes, watching it's body twitch slightly, it's wings fluttering as it died. Oreonna stood over it's fading body with her shield up and blade out, waiting. She smirked at the Grimm, challenging them to try attacking her again. The one on the left reared back and howled hauntingly before charging the black and white haired faunus. Instead of dodging or going in for an attack this time, Oreonna raised her shield and slammed it into the attacking Grimm's face. The highly sensitive, dust infused strings of her instrument let out a loud "twang" creating a overwhelming force that sent the Grimm flying backwards into the caves walls with a satisfying crack, it's body falling limp to the ground.

Oreonna was ecstatic, here she was, fighting strange and terrifying new Grimm in a kingdom far from home! Just like a real huntr-

In her excitement, the cat faunus had neglected the third Terrar and as she turned to face it she saw three pointy claws coming straight at her face. There would be no time to dodge or counterattack this time, so she chose her third option.

A flash of light filled the cavern as the Grimm's claws pierced... nothing. The place where Oreonna had been standing was now empty, but to the left and right of where she'd been were now two copies of the cat girl, one with white hair and the other with black. The dark haired Oreonna lunged at the Grimm with a snarl of aggression, swinging the duos bow sword at the Terrar. The beast leapt back and then immediately pounced forward to sink it's claws into the defenseless cat girl, but the monster was intercepted when the white haired Oreonna gracefully stepped in front of it, stopping the blow with the violin shield half of Symphonic Discord. Then her darker counterpart leapt over her other half and stabbed her blade deep into the Terrar's shoulder. The beast jumped away with a pained screech, the Grimm faced to two Oreonna's silently for a moment before tilting it's head to one side and running off down the passage the trio had originally come from.

"Oh no you don't!" Oreonna shouted as her two selves fused back together with a flash and she took off down the tunnel after the Terrar.

She followed the beast for a few yards before easily catching up to the wounded monster. With a quick slash at it's back, the Grimm fell forward, sliding across the cave floor, but then the Terrar started howling loudly, a horrible, unholy sound that made the cat ears on Oreonna press down against her head in an attempt to block out the noise.

"Oh my god! SHUT UP!" Oreonna yelled as she quickly stepped over and stabbed downward into the Grimm's neck, silencing it's cry.

The cat girl took a moment to let the ringing in her ears die out, but once the sound returned to her senses she was quick to remember a rather important fact about Terra's. They lived in hives, and when threatened, they were known to go running back to them for assistance, so really it was no surprise what she saw.

All around Oreonna, the walls of the cave came to life as the dozen of Terrar's that had been burrowed in them awoke. The Grimm slowly pulled themselves out of their resting place in the rocks, a chorus of groggy growls filling the air around Oreonna. At this point the cat faunus decided it might be a good idea to go back the way she'd come from... quickly. But before she could turn around their was an earth shattering impact behind her. Oreonna looked back over her shoulder and came to another revelation about Terrar's and the hives they lived in.

Hives have Queens.

The small cat girl paled as she took in the sight before her. This Terrar was easily five times as big as it's underlings, with even more spikes, bigger wings, and just below the bone mask on it's "face" was a pair of giant pincers, behind which Oreonna could make out rows and rows of sharp, needle-like teeth. The Queen loomed over the cat faunus, a thick line of liquid dripping from it's mouth onto the floor as it's one glowing red eye focusing as it leaned in close and let out a bizarre clicking noise in Oreonna's face.

"Nope," Oreonna said, before bolting off into one of the many other tunnels that lead out of the hive.

With a monstrous screech, the beast and her minions were in pursuit. Oreonna didn't look back, she just kept pumping her legs to move faster, the numerous growls and the sound of fluttering wings behind her providing all the motivation the black and white haired faunus needed to keep moving. After running for a bit, her pursuers hot on her trail, it became clear to Oreonna that she wasn't going to lose them in the caves, so it was time to try something else. The features of the cave blurred around her as she moved faster, she didn't know where she was headed, she just knew she needed more space for the idea she had to work.

Luckily, the next cavern she entered was a huge, wide open space, so as Oreonna ran she once again brought up her violin and began to play. This time the melody was loud and high tempo, and as the faunus continued to play, a thick black storm cloud began to appear over her, filling the top of the cavern, thunder started shaking the cave walls as the storm grew. Oreonna did her best to focus on playing while the threats continued to approach her, and finally when she thought she'd built up enough power, she spun around on one foot to face her many adversaries.

The cat faunus eyes turned to slits at what was behind her. A wave of living blackness with claws and red eyes taking up the entirety of the passage she'd come from. In it's center mass was the Queen Terra, it's jaws wide open and lunging toward Oreonna. For half a second, fear gripped the cat girl as the beast moved in for the kill, truly if she'd hesitated even one second longer Oreonna wouldn't have survived the encounter.

But the cat faunus knew that these subterranean Grimm only feared one thing. Light.

And so she jabbed the tip of her bow in the direction of the Queen and the storm cloud overhead roared to life, a savage bolt of lightning shot out and followed the direction Oreonna was pointing and struck into the mass of Grimm with a _KRA-KOW!_ Shaking the entire cave system, then everything was quiet for a moment.

The Terra Queen fell forward onto the ground, a burning hole in it's chest. It's many underlings scattered back into the shadows of the cave as their leader fell. Oreonna breathed heavily, her heart still pounding in her chest at her first near death experience at Shade. Her hands were shaking as adrenaline coursed through her, training was one thing, but those creatures could have- would have killed her without a second thought.

Hell, she'd almost **died**. This was a new feeling.

Oreonna couldn't help but think about her dad in that moment, about how he'd have reacted when he got THAT phone call, _"Oh hey! Your daughter lasted all of twenty four hours at Shade on her own! Where would you like us to mail the pieces of her we recovered?"_ A involuntary chill traveled down her spine at the morbid thought.

 _Take it easy. Just breathe._ Oreonna thought trying to calm herself. _This is the job, you knew that. You're alive, focus on staying that way._

With one more deep breath, the black and white haired girl finally managed to reign in her emotions. She re-sheathed her weapon and was convinced she was ready to move on, but then why was she still shaking? Why was... everything still shaking?

The cave was rumbling all around her, the ground beneath Oreonna started to quake, suddenly the thought of using a highly destructive dust spell in an enclosed space didn't seem like as good of an ideas as it had a few moments ago. Unfortunately Oreonna had this thought just as the floor beneath her crumbled away, sending her falling into the darkness of another deep cavern beneath her with a yell of surprise.

The cat faunus flailed at the nothing around her as she fell. Even with her faunus night vision she still couldn't make out the bottom of this pit she was falling into, it seemed it was a much deeper portion of the catacombs than where she'd entered. With every second she plummeted down, Oreonna knew her odds of survival where getting lower and lower.

 _Okay, okay, don't panic. Just do what you did bef-_

It was around then Oreonna remembered she was out of wind dust.

 _Oh..._

She scrambled for another idea, her mind racing, it couldn't end like this! Surviving one near death experience just to die from falling into a freaking hole in the ground?!

Suddenly, something bright yellow came flying at Oreonna from her left, the cat faunus looked up just in time for the large object to collide into her. Instinctively, her cat like instincts made her latch onto whatever it was, wrapping her arms around it tightly. Fortunately whatever hit her was somewhat soft, and moved with enough force to knock her off her downward decent and over into a nearby alcove of the cave where the black and white haired faunus felt the earth return beneath her.

Even though Oreonna was on solid ground again, she still clung tightly to her savior. Oreonna's pink eyes were locked onto the seemingly bottomless pit below them, watching the rocks that had fallen along with her disappear into the darkness. That easily could have been her.

A sigh of relief above her brought Oreonna's gaze upwards to the person currently holding her in their muscular arms. "That was a close one," the girl said.

Oreonna looked up at the familiar blonde holding her. Cow ears, red handkerchief in her hair, and big brown eyes greeted her. Of course, it had to be Maybelle, didn't it? The one person Oreonna had been totally okay with never seeing again. Of all people, she just had to run into her in a collection of dark, seemingly endless, series of catacombs beneath the surface.

Maybelle gave Oreonna a concerned look, "Hey, I didn't hurt you, did I? Didn't really have a lot of planning time on that jump so I might have messed it up. Sorry..."

Oreonna rolled her eyes at her, as if Maybelle really cared, the cat faunus refused to be tricked twice into thinking the blonde gave a damn about her feelings, "I'm fine," the cat girl muttered halfheartedly.

"Oh. Good," Maybelle said, smiling again, "Then are you ready for me to put you down?" Maybelle raised an eyebrow coyly at Oreonna, "Cause it's gonna be kinda tough for me to do that if you don't let go at some point."

Oreonna hadn't realized it until then, but she still had her hands clasped tightly around the cow faunus neck, still holding on for dear life as she was cradled in the taller girls arms. Flustered, the cat girl unhooked her hands and hopped out of Maybelle's gentle grip. The two stood there awkwardly as the red faced Oreonna briefly wondered if it wasn't too late to jump back into that pit to escape this embarrassment.

* * *

Earlier, in another part of the Blighted Catacombs, a familiar silver haired girl landed in a crouching position, a long sloping trail of ice that she'd used for her own landing hung in the air behind her. The grumpy huntress held her spear like weapon in front of her as she waited for her orange eyes to adjust to the darkness.

 _Of course,_ she thought bitterly, _the headmistress would create an initiation that favored her kind_.

True, without any of the naturally enhanced senses most faunus have, the trial put before the spear wielder had humans at a greater disadvantage to start, but she'd come too far, sacrificed too much to let this obstacle deter her.

The silver haired girl could make out a trail of torches leading down a path to her right so she cautiously followed them, she briefly considered using her weapon to light her way, but rejected the idea as a waste of dust. After walking for a bit the human girl got to a fork in the path, to one side she saw a few sporadic torches, to the other was... something else?

It was a light source, that was for certain, but it seemed much brighter than the usual torches burning in the catacombs. Maybe it was sunlight? Had she really been placed so close to the exit? The idea of passing the headmistresses little test so effortlessly almost made the silver haired girl smile... almost. With that thought in mind she made her way towards the mysterious light source, but as she got closer she was able to confirm that she was not lucky enough to have found the exit. It was some kind of stone, and it was... floating? The girl continued her approach, studying the bizarre glowing rock. It was tear shaped with a sharp point at the bottom and now that she had gotten closer, it almost seemed to be slowly pulling away from her, like it was trying to lure her-

Her eyes went wide in realization as the sharp point of the "rock" came flying towards her with lightning quick speed. The red markings on the Deathstalker it was attached to burned brightly as it attacked. the orange eyed girl brought her free hand up in front of her and a round, silver force field appeared blocking the attack, but it's force still sent her sliding backwards.

The huntress in training slid to a stop, glaring at the only slightly larger than her scorpion Grimm as it snapped it's pincers menacingly before rushing forward on it's six legs. The girl brought back her weapon as the tip of her spear changed shape to a curved edge with a large round pocket in it, making the whole weapon resemble a spoon of sorts. The large dust revolver below the tip rotated as the red section lit up and a ball of burn dust gathered in the weapons top. The girl swung her weapon at the approaching Grimm, sending the ball of fire flying at the beast. The Deathstalker screeched as the orb collided with it's face, scorching it's eyes and rendering it blind for a moment. The girl didn't let up her assault and sent three more similar attacks in the beasts direction, but the scorpion was smart enough to block the attacks this time with it's giant pincers, and sent out it's tail in a blind strike.

The silver haired warrior casually leaned back as the tip of the tail barely missed her, before grabbing onto the appendage so she was pulled back towards the monster and elevated above it, hanging from it's stinger. From her elevated vantage point she saw the small gap in the Deathstalker's armor in the space where it's head met it's body. Her target found, she leapt up into the air, the end of her spear glowing with red dust. The sight impaired Deathstalker was still trying to figure out where it's prey had gone when the girl stabbed downward through it's carapace and out the bottom. The Grimm was able to gurgle in confusion before all it's legs gave out from beneath it and it fell to the ground with a thud.

The girl removed her spears head from the fallen beasts back with a bit of effort and hopped off its disintegrating corpse. She turned back and gave the fading Grimm one final look of disinterest before turning to leave. If this was the worst she was expected to deal with here, she'd have no problem-

Suddenly she heard something approaching her from her left and she immediately sprung on it.

"YO! That was awes- ACK!" the figure yelled out in surprise as the silver haired girl twisted around behind them and pulled her spears shaft against their throat, choking them, "AGH! Safe word! Safe word! I don't know the safe word!" her orange haired "attacker" yelled.

 _Another student? Hm._ she thought to herself, the silver haired girl rolled her eyes at the annoyance. "Don't try and sneak up on me," she said giving her weapon one final tug against his throat for emphasis before letting him go.

The orange haired boy rubbed his mechanical hand against his neck, "Good to know," he said coughing slightly, "My name's Crushed Windpipe- I mean, Oran. What's yours, Chokey?"

The girl took one look at the hyena ears popping out of that mess of orange hair on the faunus boys head, then turned and walked away.

"Ooookay..." Oran said following behind the unfriendly girl, "So, you wanna team up? I haven't run into anyone else yet. Well, besides the Grimm, but they don't seem like the best-"

"I don't need your help. Or anyone else for that matter. Leave me," the girl said coldly without even looking at Oran when she spoke as she kept walking.

"Oh, so I guess you wouldn't be interested in knowing you're headed in the wrong direction?" Oran replied with a devilish smirk.

That seemed to get the silver haired girls attention as she looked back at the faunus skeptically, "And how would you know that?"

Oran smiled back at having gotten her interest, "Hey, all in know is that in that direction," the faunus gestured over his shoulder back the way they'd came, "I can smell fresh air, which means there must be some kind of exit that way. Also I can totally catch a whiff of Professor Evergreen's perfume in that area too." The girl didn't seem convinced and was about to ask just how he knew that as well, but Oran just tapped the side of his nose. "Nose knows, my friend. Canine ears aren't just for show you know, I'm practically a freakin' bloodhound."

The orange eyes huntress in training weighed her options in her head for a moment. It was either spend hours down, here getting lost and battling Grimm until she eventually exhausted herself, or she could suffer the annoyance of this creature for a much shorter amount of time... neither were great choices in her opinion.

Finally she groaned loudly, "Fine. You will lead me out of these damn caves."

Oran beamed back at her, "SICK! This is gonna be-"

"Without. Talking." the girl added, and with that, she marched off in the direction the faunus had pointed without another word.

And so these two unlikely companions set off in silence... for about three seconds, which, to be far, was quite impressive for Oran, "I'll do my best, Baroness Von Choke n' Glare."

The human girl glared at Oran venomously, basically proving his point, but the faunus just chuckled in response, "Hey if you want me to stop with the hilarious nicknames, you're gonna have to give me your real one, OK, Murder Eyes?"

The quiet huntress gritted her teeth at the still smiling faunus. Then took a much needed, deep, calming breath, "Nichol. Now, shut up, and lead on, you insufferable creature."

Oran's smile broadened, "Whatever you say, Nicky!" Oran responded jovially, "One exit coming- ACK! OH GOD NOT AGAIN!" he cried out as his traveling companion grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the caves wall. The silver haired girl pressed her forearm into Oran's throat and gave him a furious stare.

"Nichol," she said with barely contained malice, "Never. Call Me. Nicky... EVER," A roaring fire burned behind Nichols orange eyes as she spoke.

"G-gotcha," Oran managed to choke out, for the first time he actually felt a little intimidated by the look this girl was giving him. Clearly, he'd hit a nerve with her.

Nichol let her guide fall back to the ground and began walking off. Oran just sat there for a moment, his hand to his throat, a dumbstruck expression on his face. But soon his unbeatable smile returned even stronger, "Ooooooohhhhh this is gonna be fuuuuuuuuunnn!" he said to himself giddily as he hopped to his feet and hurried to catch up with what he had now dubbed his greatest challenge to date.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N- Another chapter! Yaaaaaaay! Only two more left of this "arc"! Booooooooo! I'll probably keep the story going after that, it's just gonna take a lot longer to come out with new stuff... Buuuuuuut you know reviews and favs miiiiiiiight just get my pen hand moving a little faster... hint, hint...**

 **Also a guest reviewer (no name given, which makes it hard to respond to you guys FYI) asked just how many students are involved in this initiation, and to that I say... probably the same as Beacon's. So somewhere between 10 and infinity students. ;) But that doesn't super matter really, we'll mainly be focusing on Oreonna and her team, as well as cameo's from team NDGO and BRNZ most likely, maybe a few more OC's to balance out some character tropes along the way.**

 **Speaking of Oreo's team, twenty LongSean22 points to anyone (who hasn't already read/seen the stories/art I've drawn) who can guess the name of Oreonna's team based on the characters I've introduced. Keep in mind my points are not redeemable for cash or goods in any country that exists... yet. (Insert evil laughter but also it's a joke because I'm not creating a new country please don't call the government on me I don't need that stress I'm just joking though I probably don't need to tell you that okay bye.)**

 **NEXT TIME!- It seems like literally no one is happy about the partners they've gotten stuck with. Can they overcome their differences and escape with their lives? Or will their bickering awaken something deep within the Blighted Catacombs... something old... and destructive.  
**

 **Or both maybe, both would be cool.**

 **:P**


	9. Heating Up

**Chapter 9- Heating Up  
**

Oreonna stomped angrily through the Blighted Catacombs cursing her incredibly bad luck.

"Hey! Wait up!" a voice behind her called out, "Not everyone can see as well in the dark as you," Maybelle joked as she jogged to catch up to the cat faunus.

Oreonna didn't respond, she just furrowed her brow and kept walking, and for a while there was silence between the two of them as the cat girl was content to brood. Maybelle would occasionally try and strike up a conversation with her, but Oreonna only gave short one word answers. If the cow faunus was at all aware of the cat eared girls mood she made no indication of it. The blonde continued asking questions as they walked, even after a few light skirmishes with Grimm. Maybelle seemed almost unnaturally curious about Oreonna, but all this did was make the black and white haired girl angrier. Why was she acting like they were friends or something? Acting like nothing had happened? Was she really that callous? Or was she just oblivious? And the most important question on Oreonna's mind was why the hell had Maybelle gone out of her way to save her like she had?

After a run in with a few Creeps, Maybelle hoisted her giant club -which was easily as big as the faunus herself- over her shoulder, the large bell on the end clanging lightly as she rested it there, "You're weapon's pretty cool by the way," Maybelle said cheerfully, gesturing towards Symphonic Discord.

Oreonna flicked a bit of the black goo that the Grimm seemed to be composed of off her blade before sheathing it, "Yup," she said with an emotionless tone, hoping against hope that the cow girl would finally get the hint that she wanted nothing to do with her, she could feel her patience reaching it's breaking point.

"It suits you too," Maybelle quickly responded much to Oreonna's chagrin. The cat girls eye began to twitch, "especially after I heard you playing last night. You really were amazing by the way, I've never heard any-"

"Okay, what the actual hell is wrong with you!?" Oreonna finally blurted out, unable to contain emotions anymore. Maybelle was understandably confused by this outburst and stared blankly at the small, enraged, cat faunus as she continued to shout at her, "Why are you acting like you didn't humiliate me last night!"

The cow faunus cocked her head to the side as if she was trying to recall just what Oreonna was ranting about, "Last... night?" she asked.

Oreonna lost the last ounce of control she had at that response, "YES! You treat me like that and then you just act all chummy with me now?  
What kind of asshole does that!?" she yelled.

Maybelle still just stared back, a slight look of hurt appearing on her face, "Okay," she said calmly, "I'm... I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," The blonde noticed Oreonna's face twist further into rage at her comment, "BUT!... But maybe if you explain to me what I did I can try and fix it. Please?" Oreonna was completely baffled at how someone could remain so calm and collected while another person screamed at them, but Maybelle was talking like they were having a casual conversation, "Look, whatever I did, it wasn't on purpose, I promise. And I'm sorry I made you feel the way you do."

The cat faunus felt her anger lose a some of it's edge at Maybelle's seemingly sincere apology, but how could the girl not remember what happened? Oreonna sighed, collecting her thoughts before she continued, "Last night, you... you were so friendly to my face, but then as soon as you got back to your friends... I saw you all laughing at me," The cat faunus' tail hung sadly, her cat ears laid flat as she clenched her fists at the still fresh wound she'd prodded.

May raised an eyebrow as she tried to remember, and then like a million light bulbs all went off at once, her eyes lit up in recognition, "Oh... OH! Oh god," May started chuckling loudly, the laughter doing very little to calm Oreonna's mood. Luckily before another outburst could be released, the cow faunus explained, "I'm so sorry, Oreonna. I totally get how you'd think that, but I swear, they weren't laughing at you."

The cat faunus narrowed her eyes, "Your friends looked right at me and started laughing. You couldn't even look me in the eye afterwards. What part of this exactly am I misinterpreting?" she said in irritation.

Maybelle just smiled back, placing a hand on her hip, "Because they were laughing at me. At something I said," she explained.

"Bull crap," Oreonna replied, not willing to be fooled again, "then why look at me after? Did you say something about me? How is that any better!?"

Maybelle's smile vanished, "I..." the tall girl shuffled her feet awkwardly, "I'd... rather not say. It's actually kinda embarrassing..."

 _Oh no, you are NOT getting off that easy,_ Oreonna thought, "I think if you're talking about me behind my back I have a right to know, Maybelle," the mono-tone haired violinist insisted, giving the cow faunus a scrutinizing look.

The blonde continued shuffling in place, "I... I don't-"

"TELL ME!" Oreonna shouted, making Maybelle jump back in surprise. Oreonna was done playing games at this point, she didn't care how many Grimm she was attracting with this noise, she dug her feet in, she deserved answers, she deserve-

"I told them I thought you looked cute, okay?" Maybelle finally blurted out.

Oreonna's mind stopped, "W-what?"

The cow faunus sighed in defeat, "I told them that I went to listen to you play your violin, and while I was watching you sitting in the corner, completely focused on nothing but playing, like you were miles away from the cafeteria... and I just thought that... I don't know, you looked... cute..."

Oreonna's mouth hung open, she'd been expecting a million things to come out of Maybelle's mouth, except that. Already she could feel her face starting to heat up.

May continued, "The reason they thought that was so funny was... You see, back at Vast I had a bit of a reputation," The cow faunus looked very uncomfortable with the topic, but she continued, "well, more like nasty rumors that were spread about me by someone I thought I... that I thought I could trust," Maybelle furrowed her brow a bit at that part, before her face returned to a mixture of embarrassment and guilt, "Anyway, said rumors being that I flirted with every girl I came across. It wasn't... completely true, but rumors are powerful like that I guess," May scratched the back of her head awkwardly, "and so Gwen and Nebula were quick to remind me about them last night after they saw me talking to you, and... well, that's what happened."

Oreonna felt quite the cocktail of emotions inside her at that moment. Guilt was pretty prominent, she could tell this was an uncomfortable subject for Maybelle, and she felt ashamed that she'd forced it out of her, she'd wanted to know, but never would she have imagined that she'd misread the situation so horribly, but most of all what the cat faunus felt was shock... and maybe a little embarrassment.

 _C-cute?_

"Umm..." Oreonna started, not really sure how to approach this new subject, "So... you're... um... you know..."

"Playing for the other team? Gay as all hell? A huge god damned lesbian? Yup," Maybelle said with a slight grin.

"Oh," Oreonna said, and really that was all she could think to say.

Nothing about the reveal of Maybelle's sexuality necessarily bothered Oreonna, the cat faunus had always tried to keep an open mind about such things, but the word "cute" was still resonating in her skull. She'd been called cute before, of course, when she was a kid mostly. When she'd spend her weekends sitting around Tukson's Book Trade watching her father work almost every customer that came in had to comment on what a "cute little girl" she was. Of course her dad was always quick to agree with them, he used to jokingly refer to her as his stores unofficial mascot with all the customers she brought in. Once Oreonna got older, Yang was always quick to lightly tease her about how "cute" she was too, asking her when she was going to stop keeping the world in suspense and get a damn boyfriend already. Oreonna would always just laugh it off, it wasn't like any of the boys she knew wanted anything to do with the "weird violin girl" anyway. It was all just joking kid stuff really, but there was something different about the way Maybelle had said it just now, it gave Oreonna a strange feeling she couldn't quite identify...

May cleared her throat bringing the cat girl back to reality, you could practicality see the word "Awkward" hanging in the air right now, the silence between the two almost had a physical weight to it. Suddenly there was a chorus of angry growls from the passage to their left, a group of Creeps made a bee-line towards the huntresses in training, no doubt attracted by Oreonna's earlier shouting.

 _Oh thank god,_ Oreonna thought to herself, relieved that something had come along to change the subject, even if said something was a group of blood thirsty monsters.

Maybelle seemed to also be thankful for the distraction as she reached up to grab her weapon off her back, "Shall we?" she asked with a smile.

The cat faunus smiled back, she was more than willing to put aside this mortifying incident and deal with whatever complex emotions she was experiencing later.

Or never, never worked pretty well too.

So the two huntresses in training took off towards their adversaries.

* * *

Not too far away, Nichol was dealing with her own issues regarding her partner. This "Oran" seemed to have no comprehension of the word "silence", the infuriating faunus had been prattling on almost the entire time he'd been leading them through the caves.

"So anyway, that's the third time I went to detention for climbing onto the roof. The FOURTH time though-"

The silver haired warrior was on her last nerve at this point, her teeth grinding as she was forced to endure this aggravating creatures company if she ever wanted to find her way out of these blasted catacombs. The two seemed to be making good progress at least, the hyena boy was moving at a brisk pace through the darkness.

"And if you think THAT story was crazy, you haven't heard about my Mariachi phase,"

But gods, what Nichol would do at this point for just thirty seconds of silence. The duo hadn't even had the good fortune to run into any Grimm along the way, not since Nichols initial encounter. Anything! She'd take anything to shut this damn animal up for at least a moment!

 ** _It'd be easy..._**

Nichol heard a chillingly familiar voice in her head, a memory from not too long ago.

 _ **He's not even paying attention.**_

Nichol shut here eyes tightly as she tried to will the unwelcome thoughts from her head.

 _ **One quick stab through the back, right through his Grimmspawn heart. That's all it'd take.**_

The silver haired girl furrowed her brow. No, that wasn't who she was anymore. She had to be better than that now.

 _ **C'mon, it's not like it'd be the first time...**_

"So, long story short, I should never be put in charge of anyone's personal belong- Hey, you okay?" Nichol opened her eyes to find Oran facing her with a concerned look. That look, it only made the human angrier. She didn't need this faunus' pity, or his concern, but she did need his enhanced senses, so she decided to hold back her anger for now.

"I'm fine," she replied flatly, walking past the stopped faunus, "but keep your voice down. You'll just alert Grimm to our position with your inane babbling."

Oran's face stretched into a smile, "Well, I do enjoy a good babble, but I see your point," Nichol narrowed her eyes at the faunus as her request was seemingly ignored, "but enough about me, what about you?" the faunus asked.

The silver haired girl gave Oran an incredulous look. Why was this creature so intent on getting information from her? She felt her paranoia increase, Nichol brushed off the question as sped up her gait, ignoring the orange haired faunus as she passed him.

"Ya know, this conversation might go a bit smoother if you... I don't know, conversed in it?" Oran said as he caught up to Nichol, stretching his arms behind his head.

The spear wielder glared back at her temporary partner, "Even if we weren't currently surrounded by hundreds of the most blood thirsty beasts on the planet, I can assure you that I would have nothing I desired to "converse" about with you," Nichol said coldly.

"C'mon! It's fun to talk! I do it all the time! Even when people don't ask me to and usually waaaaay more than they wanted me too if they did," Oran replied cheerfully. His silver haired associate groaned as she conditioned walking in silence, but Oran wasn't going to be stopped that easily though.

"What's your favorite color?"

Nichol continued ignoring the annoying faunus, her thought being he'd have to tire himself out eventually.

"Favorite TV show?"

 _Ignore him. Do not engage. Don't give him an inch._

"Favorite food?"

Nichols left eye began to twitch.

"Favorite dust flavor?"

Her teeth started grinding together again.

"Favorite book series?"

The girls hands balled into shaking fists, she swore to whatever deity was listening that if he asked her one more ridiculous-

"Favorite moment from school when you accidentally tripped running into the cafeteria and landed face first in-"

"WOULD YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!?" Unable to take anymore, Nichol exploded at Oran.

The hyena faunus flinched in surprise as Nichol set into him, "Whoa," Oran said, his hands up in an effort to protect himself from the short haired girls wrath, "Take it easy, Nicky-"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!" Nichol yelled at him as she advanced on the poor faunus causing Oran to back into the walls of the cave, "I've only known you for ten minutes and I'm already entirely sick to death of you!" Nichol was visibly shaking now as she spoke through clenched teeth, all of her fury was being expelled at the shaggy haired hyena boy.

Oran looked back with wide eyes, his grin weak but still ever present, "Oookay... I get it, I crossed a line somewhere, but I think you should keep-"

"NO!" You do NOT get to tell me what I should do, you filthy Grimmspawn!" Once again, just like with the cat faunus from earlier, that word slipped out. She didn't mean to keep using it, she'd just used it so commonly in the past it had become second nature, but it was a cruel and hate-filled word that Nichol knew she had to be better than using, however her views on the faunus population were... complicated to say the least. This one though, this infuriating creature before her, never before had she been so completely annoyed by a member of his race. It's no wonder the old thoughts had started resurfacing in her head once he'd shown up.

Oran had visibly flinched at the Nichol's slur, it was like the word had a weight and presence that had been used to strike him, but still he smiled. "Okay, name calling aside, I really think you ought to quiet down just a lit-"

"You have done nothing but talk since I met you! What right do you have to tell me to shut up now?!" Nichol shouted in disbelief.

"Nick-... chol. I really think-"

"I don't know what I was thinking!" Nichols voice was only grew in volume and ferocity. She could already feel her voice getting hoarse as a result.

"Nichol?"

"Teaming up with you was the biggest mistake I've ever made! And trust me, I've made some bad ones!"

"Nichol?"

"Literally hundreds of other students down here and it just had to be-"

"NICHOL!?"

"WHAT!?"

It was then that the frustrated girl noticed Oran wasn't looking at her anymore, rather he was looking at something behind her. Raising a mechanical hand, the faunus boy pointed meekly at whatever was in his eyesight that had put such a nervous expression on his face. Nichol whipped her body around to see what all the fuss was about. At first, she saw nothing, then a pair of burning red eyes cut through the darkness around the two of them, a pair of slitted, yellow pupils focused on the children in front of it. Crimson curved lines appeared around the eyes as the massive beast raised it's head, on it's neck a trio of glowing glands shined brightly like flames, the two hunters could feel the heat radiating off them.

"Heh heh... Probably should have kept your voice down. Huh, Nicky?"

Nichols head snapped back at the sheepishly smirking Oran. Before she could say anything, a deafening roar shook the air.

* * *

"DAMN IT! Stay still!" Maybelle shouted, bringing her club down on the swift cobra-like Grimm again, the large bell on the end making a loud "BONG!" sound as her club hit the ground, but the snake coiled it's body to avoid the strike for the fourth time now. The Grimm wasn't massive, it was just about May's size with red markings from it's hooded head and bone mask all the way down to it's tail. The "Naja", as Oreonna had identified it, hissed loudly before recoiling back exposing it's fangs then lunging forward towards the cow faunus.

Fortunately, Maybelle wasn't alone and Oreonna intercepted the Grimm's attack, slashing her blade across the monsters face. The Naja wiggled away, it had suffered no discernible damage yet, but still it stretched out the hood on it's head in a threatening manner as it hissed again. Oreonna growled under her breath, this wasn't working, Maybelle and her had been working together shockingly well actually after there enlightening and almost painfully awkward conversation, but the two of them had been under almost constant attack by the Creatures of Grimm living in the Blighted Catacombs ever since. However the combination of Oreonna's quick, precise strikes and Maybelle's power had made quick work of almost everything that had gotten in their path. This Naja, however, was different, it seemed to know it couldn't win in a straight fight against the two and was content with dodging and wearing the duo out before moving in for the eventual kill. Oreonna was basically at a loss at this point as to how to tackle this and looked to Maybelle for some kind of answer, she could practically see the gears turning in the cow girls head, a look of deep contemplation on her face.

Then the cow faunus ears perked up and she looked over at Oreonna, "Hey! Your violin thing, can it do ice?"

The cat faunus took another swing at the Grimm to send it retreating away before looking back at May, "Uh... I know a few songs that use ice dust, if that's what you mean?" she asked, confused.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" May replied excitedly, "Can you hold it down with one so I can give it a good wallop?"

"Well, yeah, I guess? But it's moving around too much. I need it to stay in one place for at least a second, either that or know where it'll be before I fire off the spell," Oreonna answered, she'd considered this plan already, but it was impossible with the beast slithering around every time they made a move.

Maybelle stopped to think for a moment, then her eyes lit up, "Gotcha! Aim for where it lands!"

Before Oreonna could ask what the hell that even meant, Maybelle rushed head long towards the Naja, the Grimm instinctively reared back, preparing another strike. Oreonna didn't exactly understand how May getting bitten by a giant snake was a viable plan, but she certainly wasn't coming up with any better ideas on her own, plus she had decided her partner had earned a little bit of trust by this point, had to start somewhere she supposed. With that, the cat faunus started to play. Maybelle continued her hasty approach to the Grimm and before it could lash out she leapt into the air over the Naja. The cobra never took it's lidless eyes off the cow faunus and once she'd reached the apex of her jump the beast lunged forward, it's venom soaked fangs eager to sink into the girls flesh. Oreonna was too far away to do anything at this point, all she could do was watch and keep playing, she'd nearly completed her melody, for all the good it would do them. But then, something... odd happened.

When gravity should have deemed that Maybelle was at the peak of her jump, Oreonna's magenta eye widened as the cow faunus seemed to almost float just a little higher, just out of the reach of the Naja's jaws.

Then the cat faunus saw it, the moment Maybelle had been referring to. The cobra Grimm had propelled itself into the air to snatch the blonde, but now, unlike Maybelle apparently, the beast was in the inescapable grip of gravity as it fell back to earth. Without missing a beat, the black and white haired cat girl pointed the tip of her bow sword at the ground beneath the Naja, and when it landed, icy blue chains shot out of the floor around it. The chains wrapped around the Grimm's body and anchored it to the spot. The Naja twisted and turned, biting at the blue chains holding it, but was unable to break Oreonna's dust powered grip. The Grimm hissed loudly as Maybelle approached it, it thrashed wildly trying to attack the tall faunus, but it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. With a grin, Maybelle raised her giant club above her head and slammed it down on the Grimm's skull. There was a sickening, wet, crunching noise as the Naja's head was crushed under the force of the hit and black liquid splashed out in every direction.

May rested her weapon back on her shoulder, a smug look on her face as the Grimm's remains disintegrated in front of her. Oreonna walked up next to May who offered her a high five. The cat faunus smiled and happily obliged, that was a pretty good plan that Maybelle had come up with after all, but there was still one thing that was bugging her, "How'd you do that?" Oreonna asked.

May gave her a strange look, then held her club out in front of her, "Well, I hold up old Alexandra Grande here, and swing it really, really hard on the Grimm's head-"

"No. Not that," Oreonna interrupted, "You jumped and then... I don't know, kinda floated for a second?"

"Oh. That," Maybelle replied, putting Alexandra Grande back on her back, "I jump good."

Oreonna was silent for a moment, "... what?"

May shrugged, "My semblance. I jump good." The two stared at each other for a second in silence, Oreonna's expression urging May to elaborate, "OH! Uh..." The cow faunus started, seemingly trying to figure out how best to explain her gift to the cat girl, "well... it's kinda like I can make myself heavier or lighter if I want. Which basically means I can hit things really hard if I want to, or in other words..." Maybelle stopped and leapt upwards slapping the caves ceiling with her hand, which was at least a good twenty feet in the air, before coming back down to the ground and landing softly with barely a sound, "... I jump good," she added with a smile.

Oreonna took a moment to process Maybelle's... unique explanation of her semblance before coming to her own conclusion, "You're manipulating a gravitational field around yourself to alter your mass," the black and white haired girl said, "That's awesome!"

Maybelle just shrugged again, "I guess? It's just easier to say I 'jump good'," she said with a proud smirk and Oreonna couldn't help but smile back.

The cat faunus mind flashed back to earlier and how Maybelle had appeared seemingly from nowhere to catch her,"So that's how you... saved me?" she asked, still a little embarrassed about the situation she'd put herself in.

"Heh heh... yeah," May said modestly, "I was just in the right place at the right time is all," the bovine faunus placed a hand on Oreonna's shoulder. "and I'm glad I was." Oreonna's smile broadened, but then it died almost as fast as she thought about how she'd treated May after she'd saved her life, she'd ignored any attempts at making friends with her all over a misunderstanding, hell, she hand't even THANKED her. Maybelle noticed Oreonna's change in mood and seemed to mistake the reaction for discomfort at her unexpected contact with the small cat girls shoulder, so she quickly removed her hand, "Anyway...' she said, a hint of dejection in her voice. "We should go."

Oreonna felt terrible, which was slowly becoming the theme for her whole day. She'd misjudged Maybelle and got the feeling that the cow faunus was trying her best to make up for something that wasn't really even her fault to begin with. May seemed to want Oreonna to trust her, and forgive her, but at the same time wasn't willing to push the cat girl to do so. So it was up to Oreonna to make the first move, otherwise they'd never get past this.

"M-May?" Oreonna said, not used to calling Maybelle by the nickname the blonde had earlier said she reserved for her friends, she hoped she wasn't being to presumptuous in using it. They had only really known each other fro a couple hours and they weren't exactly the best start to a friendship. Maybelle looked back over her shoulder but said nothing, which Oreonna took as permission to continue. The cat faunus cleared her throat, trying desperately to avoid another stutter, "Thank you. For being there for me when I needed help, I mean." she said politely, extending the olive branch, "I never said it before, but... yeah... I'd probably be a black and white stain on the cavern floor if you hadn't been there, so... thanks."

Maybelle gave Oreonna one of the warmest and most genuine smiles the cat girl had ever received in her life. It made Oreonna's insides twist... but in a good way? The cat girl wasn't the most well versed in feelings like this, she guessed this was what people referred to when they used the phrase "butterflies in your stomach", it was a strange new feeling... but not an unwelcome one.

"You're welcome, Oreo," May said, her smile as infectious as ever to Oreonna as one of her own spread across her face.

There was just one last thing the cat faunus wanted to address, "Hey, May?" Oreonna asked, any social stigma she might have had about using the nickname had vanished from her mind now.

"Hmm?"

"I think it's pretty obvious we got off on the wrong foot," the cat faunus said, realizing with shame that she just made what could be perceived as a massive understatement, "I think we should start over, pretend last night and this morning never happened," Oreonna outstretched her hand to Maybelle, "what do you say?"

Maybelle didn't even hesitate at all, her much larger hand almost completely eclipsing Oreonna's smaller one, "Absolutely," the cow faunus said enthusiastically shaking the violinists hand, "My name's Maybelle Daffidys, and its a pleasure to meet you."

Oreonna couldn't help but giggle a little at May's prim and proper reintroduction, "Oreonna Delsole, and likewise."

With that out of the way, the two faunus continued there way through the Blighted Catacombs, whatever awkwardness there might have been between them seemed miles away now.

"So," Maybelle suddenly said, "Where are you from?" It appeared the introductions were far from over.

That suit Oreonna just fine though, she was actually looking forward to making up for lost time and learning more about the blonde berzerker, "Vale, in the city. Downtown, to be more precise."

Maybelle whistled in response, "Whoa. Long way from home, huh? You doing okay?"

Oreonna nodded. The pain of homesickness was still present, but with another new friend under her belt, the cat faunus was feeling that pain get further and further from her mind. Who knows? Maybe one day this kingdom would be just as much of a home to her as Vale was. She'd like that.

The two of them continued idly chatting and getting to know each other. They learned about their respective families, about Oreonna's small one and how Maybelle was actually the oldest of seven siblings, with three little brothers and three little sisters. The cat faunus' jaw dropped at the thought of having to help take care of that many younger siblings, but she supposed that did help to explain how Maybelle seemed so calm under pressure. Oreonna imagined that living with a family of that size made the idea of fighting blood thirsty monsters seem relatively tame by comparison.

Oreonna wasn't sure how much time had passed with just the two of them talking and walking, but suddenly her feline ears picked up a faint, unexpected sound. The cat faunus stopped in place, the extra pair of ears on her head twitching as she tried to focus in on the sound to see if she'd heard it right. Maybelle noticed her focusing and slowly began reaching for her weapon, but Oreonna put a hand up motioning May to stop.

 _That sound... it sounds like... birds? Birds chirping? Cave birds? Are those a thing?_ She doubted it, but if it was the normal, outside type of birds, then maybe...

Without a word, Oreonna charged off in the direction the sound was coming from, Maybelle in hot pursuit. After a short run, the two of them found a large, brightly lit cavern, but there were no torches in it. Oreonna craned her neck upwards to where the sound that led her here had come from and let out a cry of happiness at what she saw.

The sky!

The way out!

They'd made it!

Well... almost. There was a long spiral staircase going around the perimeter of the caves walls leading down from the opening. It was still about 80 stories up, but that's all that was standing between the students and their escape! They'd done it, they'd survived the Blighted Catacombs, and once they made their way up this -admittedly daunting- staircase, they'd have passed initiation. They'd finally officially be students of Shade Academy, their first step towards becoming huntresses was nearing it's completion!

Oreonna looked to Maybelle to see the cow faunus staring up also, a look of relief on her face as well. The black and white haired girl felt like she was going to collapse after all the walking and fighting she'd done down here, and she really didn't like the look of that incredibly intimidating staircase, but the idea that it was all worth it was just the thought she'd need to overcome this final hurdle.

The two faunus smiled at each other, both of them now understanding Professor Evergreen's earlier advice about teaming up during this test. Without each other they would never have survived down here, perhaps that was the lesson the faunus headmistress had been trying to teach all along? That yes, the Creatures of Grimm were a terrifying force to be reckoned with, fully capable of perhaps wiping mankind off the planet someday, but only through coming together would humanity be able to survive and overcome the sometimes suffocating darkness... Or maybe Oreonna was just overthinking things. She had to resist rolling her eyes at how cliche all that sounded in her head, it was like something out of the old fairy tales she'd read with her dad when she was a kid. But whatever the lesson was supposed to be, they'd made it, their future was waiting for them at the top of this staircase.

The black and white haired, cat eared girl looked to her bovine companion once more, "Well, let's get-"

A thunderous roar shook the entire cave causing Oreonna to almost lose her balance. Both girls heads snapped in the direction the sound had come from, with the extra ears on her head, Oreonna could make another noise coming from the dark tunnel.

"OHGODOHGODOHGODOHGODOHGODOHGODOHGODOHGORUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!"

"STOP SAYING AND DO IT, IDIOT!"

Someone was down there, and apparently under attack from whatever had just let out that earth shaking roar. The cat faunus looked to Maybelle, even without Oreonna's enhanced hearing, she could tell the blonde had also heard the cries. Oreonna turned back towards the exit and couldn't help but let a selfish thought slip into her mind.

 _We're so close..._

No. Her job was to save lives. No matter the danger, she had to be there for people that needed her. For their sake, she had to try.

"May! We need to-" Oreonna cried out to her companion, but was surprised to see Maybelle was nowhere in sight. Then she turned back to the cave the noise had come from and saw the tall blonde already running full speed towards the danger.

 _She didn't even hesitate,_ Oreonna thought to herself, a combination of pride in her friend and shame at her own brief inner conflict washed over her, but she shook off the feelings and charged after Maybelle.

* * *

Nichol pumped her legs as hard as she could, the earth shaking footsteps behind her getting louder and louder with each moment. They'd been lucky that the Grimm had apparently been dormant for so long that it took it a while to really become aware of their presence, so the human and faunus were able to get a head start on their escape. Now, the beast was fully awake and in a full charge after Oran and Nichol as they ran to who knows where. If that wasn't bad enough for Nichol, the orange haired nuisance she couldn't seem to be rid of was currently running ahead of her, and even when running for his life the aggravating faunus still didn't shut up!

"So Nicky, how would you say this initiation is going?" Oran yelled back over his shoulder to his less than entertained companion, "Honestly, I was going to give it a 7 out of 10, but getting chased by a giant whatever the hell that is really-"

Nichol wasn't even paying attention anymore, more to save her own sanity than anything else at this point. Honestly it wasn't like she could form a coherent response if she wanted to, the silver haired warrior was focusing intently on her breathing in order to avoid tiring herself out, that in mind, she could hardly afford to waste her breath chastising this irritat-

Nichol suddenly felt a great deal of heat emanating from behind her, she looked back over her shoulder and saw a massive ball of flames heading towards her.

No outrunning that.

So the spear wielder spun around and swung her weapon at the blaze, shooting a ball of ice dust out of the tip. The two elements collided in front of her causing a thick fog to fill the air. Nichol stopped a moment, the monstrous footsteps that had been tailing them were gone, there was just silence. The silver haired girl narrowed her orange eyes as she scanned the cloud for any signs of the beast. Perhaps she'd managed to scare it off? If not then if she had the chance, she had to press the advantage she'd gained and slay this-

A thick leathery tail swung out of the obscuring fog straight at Nichol. The huntress in training instinctively raised her hand in what she knew was a futile jester, the barrier she made was shattered the second the Grimm's red and black tail made contact and the appendage slammed into her side sending the girl flying. Nichol let out a grunt of pain at the impact, a bright flash of silver light confirming that a severe chunk of her aura had been depleted by the hit. Nichol slumped on the cavern floor, despite the force of the impact, her weapon still was tightly gripped in her hand, she'd once sworn never to let it out of her sight and wasn't about to start now. The silverette pushed herself to her knees, her aching body protesting as she did. As Nichol raised her head she saw a giant pair of red glowing eyes staring at her, the beast crawled forward on it's four muscular legs, it's long tail swinging behind it. Once the Grimm was close enough it faced Nichol and opened it's mouth wide, behind the rows of sharp teeth Nichol could see straight down the monsters throat, and as the glands on it's neck started pulsating and glowing, the young spear wielder could see the fire gathering in it's gullet.

Nichol tried to raise her spear to extinguish the flames like before, but a jolt of pain shot up her side and her arm fell uselessly back to the ground. The human girl stared at the ball of heat and death in the beasts throat. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, Nichol's orange eyes widened as she faced almost certain death. She'd survived so much these past several years, only to have it end here?

Her mother would be so disappointed in her.

Suddenly a shadow jumped in front of Nichol, separating her and the colossal Grimm. Her spiky haired faunus companion grinned in the face of the beasts fire and he started taking a deep breath... an unnaturally deep breath some might say, far deeper than a normal person his size should have been capable of. Nichol just looked on in confusion at what this idiot thought he was doing. The Grimm exhaled, the flames inside it expelled out of his mouth toward the seemingly helpless students. Oran exhaled as well, but his breath was stronger.

The loud tempest of wind that came from his lips pushed the wall of flames straight back into the Grimm's mouth. The beast recoiled in pain and let out a disturbing sounding choking noise as it shook it's head and billowing smoke poured out of its jaws.

Oran turned back to face Nichol, his breathing ragged, it appeared his "attack" had taken a lot out of him, "Time... to go..." he said between deep breathes as he extended a mechanical hand to Nichol.

The silver haired girl just started back at the faunus. _Why... why did he do that?_ Nichol thought to herself. She'd yelled at him, outright ignored him, even physically assaulted him. Yet despite that, he'd just saved her life, Nichol could not even begin to comprehend why though. The spear wielder gritted her teeth and swatted away the faunus' offered hand, instead using her weapon to support her as she stood, "I'm- ugh- Fine, Oran!" she said, "Let's just get out of here!"

The two continued their retreat, but Nichol was moving much slower now. As much as she hated to admit it, the Grimm's tail whip had done a bit more damage to her than she'd thought. Oran was also going at a less peppy pace, his former speed and vigor seemed lost now as he hacked and wheezed trying to keep up with Nichol. From behind them they heard the sound of their pursuer resuming it's chase with another deafening roar. Nichol offered one final look back at the Grimm, it was gaining much faster this time, rage burning in it's red eyes as it bounded after them. This was not going well.

Suddenly there was the sound of someone screaming in anger in front of them. Nichol turned back to see a yellow blur fly between Oran and herself, straight towards the Grimm perusing them. It was a mountain of a blonde woman welding a massive club, she soared through the air bringing her weapon down on the beasts skull, the bell on the end of her weapon creating a loud "DONG" at the impact.

The beast staggered back a bit before falling to the cave floor, it's legs sprawling out comically as it let out a pathetic growl, the fire behind it's eyes dimming. The blonde sighed in relief as she rested her weapon on her shoulder, "Well, he certainly was a big one, wasn't he?" Maybelle said as she turned to face those she'd just saved, "Oh! Hey, Oran!"

Oran was still breathing heavy, bent over with his hands on his knees, "*Huff Huff* Hey, May..." he said between breaths, "How's your... day going?"

"MAY!" a voice yelled from the way Maybelle had come, "Did you just kill that huge thing in one hit!?" Oreonna asked jogging up to her companion and then noticing her orange haired friend next to her, "Oran?"

"Hey Oreo..." Oran said after finally regaining control of his breathing, "Good to see you're still kicking."

Oran noticed Nichol staring at the three of them, "OH! This is Nichol by the way. Just an FYI, she hates being called Nicky, so only I'm allowed to call her that. Just getting that out there."

Nichol was to busy studying her new company to acknowledge Oran's annoyance, mainly she was transfixed on the pair of animal ears on each of their heads, "Oh you've got to be kidding me," she said quietly to herself. Now there were THREE of them? Gods, just kill her now. She continued observing the three. Oran smiled back at her as usual, Oreonna's glare at Nichol was pure venom, she hadn't forgotten the altercation they'd had that morning and wasn't too keen on letting Nichol off the hook.

But before either of them could say anything, Maybelle interrupted, "Uhh, guys?" she said looking at the Grimm's prone body on the ground next to the four of them, "Am I wrong, or shouldn't that things corpse be disappearing or something?"

Sure enough, the "defeated" monster started to stir. It gathered it's claw tipped feet underneath itself before casting it's gaze on the four students in front of it. The beast raised to it's full height, towering over all of them. For a moment no one moved, both sides staring each other down. Then glowing orange veins started appearing on the giant Grimm from it's tail up to it's mouth, the black scales on it's sides illuminated under the light they provided. The curved red markings on it's mask shined brightly as the monster stomped it's front legs and roared once again, hot magma leaking from it's mouth and it's forked tongue waving in the air.

Oreonna recognized this species of Grimm, they were exceptionally rare, thankfully, many huntsman refused to believe they even existed, others simply wished they didn't. It left smoking craters where entire villages and towns once stood in it's wake, a living conduit of fire and lava if there ever was one.

Oreonna took a step back in fear as she whispered the beasts name, "D-Drakodo..."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N- AAAAAAAAAAAAND CLIFFHANGER! You all just got cliffhung. Sorry. But hey, only one chapter left! Then you all get to wait several months for the next part! Okay, probably not THAT long, but what can I say, I gots a life to live. So anyone noticed this whole scenario closely resembles what happened in the actual show during Beacons initiation?**

 **No?**

 **Good, me either.**

 **Creativity is hard.**

 **Nichol's got some secrets that we'll need to get taken care of over the next few chapters, then we'll get to Volume 2 stuff which I don't know if you guys are aware, but Oreonna's gonna be going through some stuff during that time and I am very excited to destroy her life- I mean, write that part. Hope most of you will stick around that long.**

 **:P**


	10. MOONrise

**Chapter 10- MOONrise**

 _Everything was quiet in the Delsole family apartment, the only sounds being a pencil scratching against paper and the occasional creaking of a wooden chair coming from one of the bedrooms. Oreonna sat at her desk working diligently as she read from her textbook, taking time to jot down a few notes after every paragraph or so. Her long black tail swung contently through the back of her seat and her brow was furrowed in concentration. The cat girl never minded studying as much as most teenagers her age did, there was just something about the quiet contemplation of it all that appealed to the faunus, but today she seemed especially engrossed in her work._

 _However the blonde behind her on Oreonna's bed felt quite the opposite about the situation and let out a loud frustrated groan as she let her own textbook fall to the floor with a thump. "UUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH, this is so boooooooooring," Yang said with her head hanging off the edge of Oreonna's mattress, her long mane of bright yellow hair cascading onto the floor beneath her, "aren't we done yet?"_

 _The black and white haired faunus was too focused on her work to even turn around to address her friend, "Weren't you the one who begged me to help you study in the first place?" she said with a teasing smile on her face that she knew Yang could easily hear in her voice._

 _The blonde teenager rolled over onto her front, propping herself up on her elbows, "Well... yeah, but we've been at this for hours! It's the weekend, Oreo! Let's go do something fun, or stupid, or pretty much anything that isn't this," Yang said as she rolled the rest of the way off the bed._

 _"Yes, it's the weekend, Sunday to be precise," Oreonna turned, her chair creaking as she faced Yang, "as in the day usually followed by Monday, the same Monday as that big test that we're both cramming for right now," the cat faunus gave her "study buddy" an unimpressed look._

 _Yang pouted over dramatically, "Kit-Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat..." she whined._

 _Oreonna rolled her eyes at the nick name, "You know I'm not keeping you here against your will, right?" she said, "You can leave any time you want. I just need to finish up this chapter, okay?"_

 _"Yeah, I know I can," Yang said leaning over to inspect what her faunus friend was reading, "but what kind of friend would I be if I left you to rot away here while I was out enjoying the splendors of youth?" The blonde finally saw the title of the section of the book her friend was studying, "Rare and Regionally Exclusive Grimm?" she said in mild surprise, "There's no way that's on the test, Oreo. Hell, we probably won't even be learning stuff like that till we get to Beacon anyway."_

 _"I know, it's just... for extra credit is all..." Oreonna said, her nose back in her text book._

 _Yang gave Oreonna an incredulous look, "Really? You think you need it? Because I'm pretty sure they don't make a grade higher than A+, Oreo."_

 _The cat faunus sighed, "I know, I just..." Oreonna paused, "You wouldn't understand," she mumbled, immediately regretting her choice of words._

 _Oreonna looked up at Yang's slightly hurt expression. The blonde nodded, "Okay," she said before taking a seat back on Oreonna's bed and crossing her arms across her chest, "try me."_

 _The cat eared girl sat sideways on her chair, looking downward. She didn't really want to get into this, a part of her wished Yang had just taken her up on her offer to leave, but that wasn't the way Yang operated, she knew this. When Oreonna looked back at the blonde brawler, Yang was just staring at the cat girl with that same sympathetic expression that always made the the faunus instinctively want to spill her guts. Oreonna had no defense against that look, it never failed._

 _The violinist took a deep breath before speaking, "I saw one of my tuition bills for Signal the other day," she admitted hesitantly, "it was a second notice, I think... my dad was trying to hide it from me." Oreonna felt a lump forming in her throat as she spoke, "He's already working himself to the bone at the bookstore to keep us afloat and now Signals costing him even more." It's true, even in a world that craved more and more huntsmen every day, any combat school in any kingdom was incredibly expensive to attend. It wasn't enough just to be skilled in combat these days, tuition and training weren't cheap and the cost could be suffocating to any family, let alone one being held together by a single parent. "I just... I just don't want to waste everything he's sacrificed for me," Oreonna continued as Yang listened patiently, "I can't let it go to waste... I just can't. So I need to push myself harder, not just for me, but for him too," Oreonna cast her gaze down again in shame, her tail hanging low._

 _After a beat of silence, Yang stood up, "Okay, get up. I'm hugging you now," Yang said/demanded._

 _Oreonna let out a hoarse laugh before standing, sure enough she soon felt the tall blondes strong arms wrap around her, "Oreonna Delsole, you are one of the smartest people I've ever known and someday you're going to make one hell of a bad ass huntress," Yang said, rubbing Oreonna's back. She pulled away with her hands resting on the short faunus' shoulders, looking deeply into her friends magenta eyes, "And I know your dad would say the same, anyone could tell with one look at the guy just how proud he is of you. You're not wasting anything, no one pushes themselves as hard as you do, but you also need to know when to take a break. Otherwise you'll end up burning yourself out, understand?" Oreonna smiled up at Yang, she really was way too good at this whole "being there for people" thing, Oreonna had to guess that Yang's experience as an older sister had something to do with that. The blonde stepped around Oreonna, "Luckily," she said, slapping Oreonna lightly on her back as she passed her, "I'm an expert in the field of break-taking." Yang leaned against the rooms door frame. "What do you say we meet up with Ruby and we all go catch a movie? You know, something stupid and actiony so we can just turn our brains off for a few hours."_

 _"Yeah," Oreonna said, a confident smile on her face, "that sounds awesome, actually. Just give me a minute to put my books away."_

 _Yang beamed back at the cat faunus, "Alright! I'll meet you downstairs then," she said turning to leave the room._

 _Oreonna's smile grew after Yang disappeared from eyesight. She really was lucky to have her as a friend, Oreonna wondered what she'd do without her sometimes. The black and white haired girl went to close her book when the title of the next chapter caught her eye._

 ** _"Drakodo- The Dragon of the West."_**

 _The text went on, describing the beast as a massive embodiment of lava and destruction. The large lizard like Grimm was said to be native to Vacuo, living in the dark caves beneath the deserts surface, though even there they were rarely ever seen. At night, under the shattered moon, they left heir homes to wreak havoc on humanity. Few eye witness accounts described in detail the path of fire and destruction the Grimm left in it's wake. It's weaknesses included-"_

 _"Kit-Kat! I will drag you away from those damn books if I have to! We both know I could do it!" Oreonna heard Yang yell from downstairs._

 _The cat girl laughed at her friends empty threat, even though she knew Yang was fully capable of such a feat, because oh my god, she was scary strong. The faunus took one last look at the Grimm's description, she briefly turned to the next page to see a massive illustration of a Drakodo, easily taking up both pages._

 _Oreonna hummed thoughtfully before closing the book and placing it back in her bag on the desk, "A Drakodo, huh?" she said to herself, "I'd hate to run into one of those someday."_

 _With that, the black and white haired girl hurried out of her room, to join her friend._

* * *

"GOD DAMNIT, YANG!" Oreonna shouted as she thrust her dust infused sword at the massive reptilian Grimm again, but similarly to the last several strikes she'd tried, the Drakodo's scales nullified any damage she might have done. However the attack did succeed in getting the monsters attention as it turned it's giant lava dripping maw towards Oreonna.

Before it could attack, Maybelle was there to intercept with another crushing blow from Alexandra Grande to the side of the beasts head, the cow faunus followed up with another heavy strike getting the giant lizard's focus on her. Without wasting a second, Oran was on the back of the Grimm's head and fired off a lightning quick series of punches on it's skull, large concentrated blasts of air firing out of his gauntlets with each hit, but once again, the monster was unperturbed and quickly tried shaking the annoyance off his head. The smooth surface of the Grimm's bone like head left the hyena boy with nothing to hold on to and he was sent flying off the Grimm. On the ground, Nichol darted between the beasts legs, swiping at it's joints with the sharp blade on the end of her dust wand trying to bring it down, but she was having about as much luck as the others.

The Drakodo's hide was just too thick to pierce. Maybelle seemed to be doing the most damage of all four of them, but even that seemed inconsequential to the giant, reptilian Grimm. Things were looking bad for the young group of hunters in training.

"So, not saying that I'm having a crappy time hanging out with you guys or anything," Oran said as he dodged a tail swipe, "but this seems to be going poorly."

"Don't you EVER shut up!" Nichol yelled from across the cave floor as she twirled her spear in her hand, launching three orbs of ice dust at the Drakodo's feet.

"Not if I'm awake, no," Oran replied, watching as the ice hissed against the Drakodo's skin, freezing it's leg in place, and for the first time in what felt like hours, the four students were able to stop and take a breath. But half a second later, the ice started to crack and steam poured off it as the beast pulled itself free, roaring in aggravation as it's markings glowed red.

"May, any ideas?" Oreonna asked. The cow faunus had come up with a unique solution earlier during their confrontation with the Naja, Oreonna really hoped the blonde had something else up her non existent sleeves. Maybelle looked contemplative for a moment before her eyes lit up as an idea started to take form. She grabbed her club by it's handle and gave it a hard twist, the grip of the weapon bent in the middle at a ninety degree angle. May placed her other arm under her club to support it as she grabbed Alexandra Grande by the top part of it's handle. The end of her weapon swung open and Maybelle pressed a hidden trigger on the hilt then-

 **BANG!**

A cannonball shot out of the end of her weapon exploding when it made contact with the Drakodo's face. The Grimm disappeared behind a wall of smoke before a loud thud was heard, presumably the monsters body hitting the ground. Oran, Nichol, and Oreonna stared slack jawed at Maybelle as smoke billowed out of the sides of her weapon. The cow faunus quickly slid her club back on it's holster, and looked to her stunned companions with a panicked expression. "We need to go! That'll probably slow it down, but my weapon can only hold one shot and when that thing gets up, its gonna be pissed," May said before taking off back the way Oreonna and herself had come from.

"Was that your plan?" Oreonna asked as she started running after May.

"Nah, That was just supposed to buy us some time," Maybelle replied, "trust me, my actual plan is waaaaaaaaaay crazier than that."

"I'm good with crazy!" Oran yelled as he suddenly took the lead since he was the fastest of the group., "Crazy and not dead sounds good to me!"

Nichol remained silent as she begrudgingly followed the faunus. She wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of following these three, but at the very least the two new arrivals seemed to have a better sense of direction than her orange haired "guide" had. So the silver haired girl decided to make peace with the fact that they'd all just happened to be traveling the same direction for now, and once they'd lost the monstrous Grimm pursuing them, she'd happily take her leave from these faunus' company.

Eventually the four of them arrived back at the exit of the Catacombs that Oreonna and Maybelle had discovered earlier. The sunlight shined in tantalizingly above them, but all four of the teens knew they'd never make it up the long staircase circling up around the edges of the caverns walls. A loud roar behind them signalized the Drakodo was back on it's feet and just as Maybelle had predicted, less than happy about it's prey's momentary escape. As the sound of it's huge, lumbering footsteps started approaching, Oran, Oreonna, and Nichol all looked to Maybelle, eager to hear whatever plan she had come up with for dealing with it.

"You two," May said addressing Oran and Nichol, "I need you guys to keep that thing busy. Once it gets here, try and keep it in the center of the cavern."

Oran stood up straight and gave a mock salute with his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth before spinning around rushing off towards the path behind them. Nichol however was not so agreeable and bared her teeth at Maybelle in defiance, "The day I take orders from a-" Another louder, and much closer roar interrupted the silver haired warrior. Her orange eyes went wide for a moment before she scowled in defeat. "Fine.." she said, begrudgingly turning to join Oran at their assigned post.

The first part of her plan was in place, so the cow faunus turned to Oreonna for the next phase, "Oreonna, we're gonna do what we did with that snake thing earlier. Just hold that big guy in place and I'll do the rest!"

The black and white haired faunus looked at May with a doubt filled expression, "May, I... You saw the size of that thing. I've never tried to restrain a Grimm that big before."

It's true, the cat faunus had spent many years honing her skills with Symphonic Discord. Manipulating her supply of dust took immense focus, a level of which very few in the world possessed, but Oreonna had one advantage over most; Music, she'd always had a good ear for music, even as a kid, from the simple rhythms to the complex concerto's, it all just came naturally to her. She was, as many in her life had said; gifted. With that ability, Oreonna was able to learn all kinds of "spells" with dust much quicker than most. Even then though, it still took years of practice and frustration on her part just to learn the basics, more than once she'd been tempted to quit the violin all together, but in the end, the music always called her back. Truth be told, Oreonna still had a lot to learn about the manipulation of dust, a small Grimm or two may be nothing to her at this point, but a Drakodo? Maybelle just didn't understand, what she was asking was beyond anything Oreonna had ever done or even thought about doing before.

"Oreo..." Maybelle placed her hands on the shorter girls shoulders, "you can do this. I know you can."

The cat girl looked up into May's deep, brown eyes and saw unwavering trust. It was strange, maybe even a little ridiculous to Oreonna, that this girl could so completely believe in someone she'd only known for a couple of hours max. But the way she said it, combined with the look in those big chocolate colored eyes made Oreonna even start to believe in herself... just a little anyway.

"I'll... try..." the cat faunus mumbled. That was all she could do, and all anyone could ask of her, she supposed, "but this things a lot bigger than that Naja, May. Are you sure you're gonna be able to take it out?"

Maybelle grinned at her, "Well, I don't plan on going easy on it, that's for sure," The cow faunus looked up towards the exit high above them, her face filled with a fierce determination, "I'm just gonna need a lot more momentum behind my strike this time."

Oreonna followed her gaze upwards. Wait. She wasn't planning on-

"One good jump s'all it'll take. Straight up and then I come crashing down hard on that things scaly head."

"May! That's-"

"Crazy?" Maybelle interrupted, "Yeah, that's what I said earlier, remember? Don't worry, I'll be fine. You just keep that creep still, okay?"

"... Okay," Oreonna replied. If Maybelle was gonna have so much faith in her, the least she could do was offer the cow girl the same. Truthfully, the cat eared girl was more worried about being able to accomplish her own part of this plan. There was a lot riding on her, namely the survival of all parties involved.

No pressure though, right?

The taller faunus offered Oreonna another dazzling smile before running to get into position. The violinist sighed loudly as she tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach and she brought Symphonic Discord up to her chin as she heard the beast drawing near.

* * *

While Maybelle and Oreonna were having their little pep talk, Oran and Nichol were waiting at the end of the long tunnel for there guest of honor to arrive. Nichol gripped her dust wand tightly with both hands, her eyes focused on the darkness before her. She wasn't exactly thrilled with the scenario she'd somehow gotten into, and even less so with her current company, faunus always had to complicate things in her life, didn't they? That, plus there was the feeling of general unease when she stopped to think about the odds of their survival in this situation. Her stomach was twisting, and her palms were getting sweaty, it's almost like she was af-

No.

There was no time to focus on whatever those feelings were. She had to stay sharp, attentive, ready to strike. There was no margin for error against a Grimm this size, so she had to block out all distrac-

"So I'm thinking boots."

Oran's interruption shattered Nichols concentration, "What?" she said not so much as a question, but out of irritation. Though she had no idea why she was even engaging this faunus in conversation at this point.

"Just wondering what I'm gonna do with my share of all the leftover leather we'll have once we skin this thing," Oran explained with a wink.

Nichol glared back at him, "Are you completely incapable of taking anything seriously? " she snapped at him, "Unless you have something useful to add to the proceedings, I kindly implore you to shut the hell up. This is not the time for your stupid jokes."

Oran chuckled weakly, "Heh, yeah, I know that," the hyena faunus looked back over his shoulder to the other two members of their temporary (Nichol could not stress that word enough) alliance before looking back at Nichol, his smile slightly weaker now. He almost looked... worried, which was a bit of a shock to the staff wielder.

"Hey, Nicky?" he said softly.

"I told you never to call me that," Nichol responded darkly, but Oran just continued to stare at her, eventually she groaned loudly and said, "What?"

Oran seemed to take a bit of pride in the small victory, "Don't tell Oreo and May... but I'm kinda freaked out of my mind right now," the faunus admitted sheepishly, "This whole "joking" thing I'm doing? Most of the time it's just for fun, but right now? Times like these? It's more of a defense mechanism. Like, somehow focusing on laughs keeps my brain from realizing just how screwed we probably are."

"I... see..." Nichol was caught a little off guard by how open and.. serious Oran was being with her right now. Sharing something so private with someone you not only barely new, but clearly whom had nothing but disdain for everything you stood for was... weird. His openness made the reserved girl very uncomfortable to say the least. By far the worst part though, was just how hard Nichol was trying to keep from relating to the creature standing beside her. Fear was just another useless emotion to her, and she couldn't afford to feel anything like that anymore.

But something about the way Oran was looking at her stirred some memories in Nichol's often closed off mind. For a moment, she thought of herself, looking upwards at a woman with long ash colored hair, wearing bright, shining, silver armor, and a warm, comforting smile on her face. Nichol had been feeling the same emotional cocktail of fear and doubt within her that Oran was in that moment, she'd never forget the advise she'd received from that woman that day.

"... Someone once told me that there was no shame in being afraid, that it's just another emotion associated with being alive, and that's something that separates us from the monsters of the world," Nichol wasn't really sure why she was saying any of this, but she continued, "and that as long as you hold tight to those emotions, you'll always have a reason to keep fighting." The silver haired girl rationalized in her head that if this faunus was this distracted by his own fear it'd just end up getting them both killed, that was the only reason she was bothering to say anything. Of course, that made sense, it was just out of practicality. Nothing more.

Oran's smile regained some of it's strength at Nichols words as it grew with newfound confidence, "Wow... Thanks for the pep-talk, Nicky. Think I needed that."

Nichol closed here eyes in frustration as the insufferable faunus continued to call her THAT name, "I swear if we survive this I will kill you myself."

"Ha! And here I thought you didn't have a sense of humor," Oran chuckled nervously as he turned back to face the cave opening, "you... uh... you are joking, right?"

Nichol chose not to respond, she decided to keep the ever annoying Oran in suspense on that little threat. However she did find herself briefly struggling to hold back a smirk that was sneaking onto her face at the faunus boys nervousness.

Suddenly a blast of fire came shooting out of the darkness, the light briefly illuminating their familiar attacker, but Nichol was ready, extending a hand out in front of her making a force field protecting her -and inadvertently Oran- from the attack. Once the flames had subsided, the robo-armed faunus charged up a large amount of wind dust in his hands before launching it at the Drakodo's glowing markings in the darkness, the Grimm growled at the two threateningly in response. Oran and Nichol looked at each other briefly and the hyena faunus offered a nod of determination before the two rushed off towards their mutual enemy.

* * *

Meanwhile, a very lacking in confidence Oreonna was watching and waiting with her violin. A wall of smoke had blocked Oran and Nichol from her vision, but the cat faunus' extra set of ears could easily make out the sounds of a struggle. The Drakodo's loud lumbering movements, a flurry of quick impacts from Oran, the noises of various dust explosions courtesy of Nichol's weapon, and finally there was that annoyingly loud, pounding heartbeat.

Oh. No wait, that was her.

Oreonna took another deep breath, she looked over to Maybelle who was also waiting patiently, crouched and ready for her part in this plan she'd invented. The cow faunus made eye contact and offered a nod of encouragement to Oreonna, well at least someone in this cave was feeling confident in her abilities right now. They were counting on her, all three of them were. Again, no pressure or anything.

 _I can do this._ That was the mantra the violinist had running on repeat through her head right now. Yeah, she could do this. No problem. I mean how hard could it-

Oran suddenly came flying out of the wall of smoke landing on his back and rolling across the floor. Nichol soon followed, but managed to regain her balance mid-air and landed in a crouch.

Then Oreonna saw the beast step out from the cavern, it looked even bigger than she remembered. It's forked tongue darted in and out of it's mouth as it tasted the air around it. The Grimm locked it's eyes onto the human and faunus standing before it, and then it charged.

Oran hopped to his feet and darted to the right while Nichol went left. The Grimm swung it's massive body sideways so that it's tail swiped at Nichol and it could snap it's magma soaked jaws at Oran, luckily they both dodged, the hyena faunus barely managing to leap out of the Drakodo's gaping maw. The orange glands on the Drakodo's neck started to glow and a stream of fire poured out of it's mouth as it tried to roast the two aspiring hunters.

Oreonna was so entranced by this scene before her, she almost forgot her one job. She shook her head to regain her focus and brought her bow to her violins strings. It was the same song she'd used earlier against the Naja, but the cat faunus was pouring every ounce of her heart and soul into the melody this time, nothing less would do the trick here.

Soon four light blue circles appeared beneath the Drakodo's feet. From inside each of them, icy blue chains started slinking out slowly, ensnaring the Grimm's legs. The beast was quick to notice this and immediately began struggling against it's restraints. With it's mobility limited, Oran and Nichol began their distracting assault as Maybelle started jumping up the stairs, the cow faunus skipping entire sections at a time with her long leaps. All the while Oreonna continued to play, beads of sweat starting to build up on her brow as she commanded the chains to start winding around the body of the beast as well. Things were going according to plan,

but a Grimm is most dangerous when it's cornered.

The Drakodo let out an ear shattering roar as it's form started glowing bright orange and veins filled with magma appeared all over it's body. The icy chains that had started covering it began to hiss as the temperature of the room started skyrocketing. Before any of the hunters in training could comprehend what was going on, the Drakodo sent out a massive force of heat from it's body creating a shock wave that sent Nichol and Oran flying into the walls of the cave, their auras shattering at the impact.

Oreonna was luckily far enough away from the epicenter of the blast that she wasn't knocked away, but she did have to stop playing to shield herself from the overwhelming heat. That's when the chains covering the Grimm started to crack.

 _Oh no._

Oreonna hurriedly started to play again, the chains reasserted themselves, but now the Drakodo knew that the cat girl was the cause of them. It's red eyes locked onto Oreonna and it started pulling against it's restraints even harder, inching towards the violin player, gnashing it's teeth together. Oreonna continued to play faster and faster as panic started swelling inside of her. She was fine. She'd be fine. She just had to stay on track. Not let anything-

The Drakodo let out another ferocious roar straight towards the cat faunus and Oreonna felt her bow slip sightly off course and a sour note came out of her instrument.

 _CHINK!_

One of the chains holding the Grimm back shattered to pieces, and the beast lunged forward as the remaining bonds strained to hold it back.

 _NONONONONONONONONO!_

NO! She could do this!

Oreonna replayed the section, but hit the same wrong note at the same part again causing another chain to snap.

 _CHINK!_

The Drakodo was only a few meters away now.

"OREONNA! MOVE!" someone shouted, the cat girl wasn't sure who it was. She really would love to take their advice, but her legs refused to oblige, seemingly frozen in place as well. So she just kept trying to play the melody, but as stress and pressure continued to build, she found herself making more and more mistakes.

 _CHINK!_

Soon only one chain remained. Oran and Nichol were still on their backs, the orange haired hyena boy was struggling desperately to get to his feet as his silver haired companion looked on with an unreadable expression. Maybelle was several stories above and completely out of reach. The flustered cat girl closed her eyes in one last ditch effort to regain her focus over the sound of the Grimm's claws scratching against the earth as it hungrily reached for Oreonna, but she just couldn't do it.

When Oreonna opened her eyes, all she saw was the Drakodo's wide open jaws and the flames being pushed out of it towards her.

Her magenta eyes went wide at the feeling of intense heat against her face as the fire approached.

Well... Maybe she couldn't do this after all...

Just before the wall of hot death could hit her, something collided with the cat faunus knocking her out of the way. She heard a yell of pain as she rolled across the floor with whatever had hit the cat girl on top of her. Oreonna, after realizing she'd managed to avoid death somehow, looked up to see Maybelle on top of her with a pained expression on her face. The cow faunus rolled off of the black and white haired girl as the Drakodo turned to face the two of them. What Oreonna hadn't seen, was Maybelle leaping from her perch high above the battlefield, pressing her feet up against the wall and using her semblance to send her body soaring through the air to push the cat girl out of harms way. It had worked, but the Grimm had a bead on the now helpless faunus.

"Hey, Ugly!" Oran shouted from across the cavern as he fired a burst of wind right at the Grimm's face, "Come over here and look at how distracting I am!" The monster needed no more incentive than that and changed course towards the hyena faunus and Nichol, who'd finally gotten to her feet, "Okay, I pissed off the giant fire breathing dragon. Probably should have thought of a part two to this plan."

"I hate you," Nichol replied as she prepared for round three of this horrible, horrible day.

Oreonna was watching the two until she heard May gasp in agony, she turned to see why and her stomach immediately twisted into a knot. Maybelle was clutching her left leg, the calf of which was bright red and blistering, she'd been burned. Badly.

May was hurt.

May had been hurt saving her, that part was especially painful to Oreonna.

The blonde noticed her friends staring and gave a dry laugh, "It's not as bad as it looks," the cat faunus knew she was lying. She watched as Maybelle hopped up onto her feet wincing slightly and clearly trying to avoid putting weight on the burnt limb. Her aura had been cut through by the flame like it was nothing, this Grimm was... beastly. "So, ready to try again?" May said, extending a hand towards Oreonna to help her stand up.

But the cat faunus couldn't take her eyes off of the burn the tall blonde had sustained because of her. This was her fault, she'd failed. That was all it took for a host of negative thoughts to begin shooting through Oreonna's head.

 _Is this how a huntress acts?_

 _You weren't ready for this._

 _They were counting on you._

 _Why are you even here?_

 _Failure._

 _Worthless._

 _Even your own mother knew that._

Dammit, it always came back to that, didn't it. That one person in Oreonna's life that had disappointed her the most. It wasn't so simple as the pain the cat girl had felt growing up without a mom, watching other kids getting picked up by their parents after school, or seeing other, complete families, playing together in the park. No, Oreonna's mother had hurt her in a much deeper way by abandoning her. Neo, Neopolitan, whatever she called herself, that woman had deemed her daughter"unworthy" of her love. Her mother abandoning Oreonna had been the catalyst for a lifetime of deep rooted self-esteem issues, anxiety, and doubt for the cat girl. Most days she could hide it deep down inside herself, behind fake smiles and faker laughter, but ever since she came to this kingdom, Oreonna had felt all those pent up feelings building inside, and now they were threatening to overtake her.

"Oreo?" May's voice cut through the dark thoughts for a moment. She looked down at the cat faunus with a concerned expression that just made Oreonna feel even worse. _Getting the scholarship had been a fluke, you don't deserve to be here, you were just lucky,_ and now that "luck" was going to get all four of them killed.

So to answer May's earlier question; No. She was not ready to try again, "I... I... I can't..." Oreonna could barely even speak right now, shame and depression were steadily taking over. Sure enough, she could feel the tears already starting.

May looked down at the distressed faunus with a look of sympathy, but not disappointment. She realized she'd pushed too far, she knelt down near Oreonna, the quiet grunt of pain escaping her as she did made the cat girls heart ache even more, "It's okay." Maybelle said in that same understanding, calm voice as always. Even as the sounds of roaring flames and dust explosions sounded off around them, Maybelle was as kind and level headed as ever. "I get it. Just rest here a minute. We'll... we'll think of something else," May limped over to Alexandra Grande and gingerly bent down to pick it up, "when you're ready, come give us a hand, okay?" the cow faunus said smiling sweetly as Oreonna sat there on the ground. Then she turned around and rushed, well, more like hopped, back into battle.

The cat girl kinda wished May had just yelled or something. Anything would have been better her just being so... nice to her. Maybelle was incredible, even though things were looking their absolute worst right now, she still charged headlong into the fray to help others. She'd make an amazing huntress... and she deserved so much better than to die here.

Fear, frustration, humiliation, all of those emotions and more wreaked havoc inside Oreonna's mind. Not a great time for a mental breakdown, but when is really?

She wasn't ready for this.

She hadn't studied hard enough, or trained hard enough.

She...

She wasn't...

She couldn't...

* * *

 _I can't do it!_

 _What's wrong, Oreo?_

 _I've tried to play this song like seventy times now! I... I can't do it! I'm not good enough! I never will be._

 _Oreo, you're only eight years old, and you're in the advanced class! You'll get there some day. Give it time._

 _But dad! Everyone else in my music class can do it no problem! But I'm just... I can't! I quit!_

 _Oreo... come here, sweetheart._

 _Why can't I do it? I try so hard, just as hard as the others, but I still can't play violin as good as them. Is... something wrong with me?_

 _...Hey, can I tell you a secret?_

 _Umm. Okay?_

 _All those other kids who you look up to? They've all felt exactly the same way you do at some point._

 _Really?_

 _Yup, I promise, but when things got tough, they stuck with it, and never gave up. Then one day, with plenty of practice, they got to that seemingly impossible level that you think exists. You'll get there one day too, but you have to keep trying, no matter what._

 _But what if I'm not strong enough?_

 _Ha! I'm not worried about that, and you shouldn't be either. You're plenty strong enough, and you'll only get stronger._

 _How do you know?_

 _Because you're a Delsole..._

* * *

Oreonna opened her eyes, conviction shining in her magenta irises. She stood herself up and wiped the tears away. The faunus took a deep breath and raised Symphonic Discord to her chin once more.

* * *

 _...And Delsole's are stubborn._

* * *

Maybelle leapt at her target again with her giant club ready to strike, but her wound was slowing her down and the beast easily knocked her away with a swing of it's head. The cow faunus hit the ground hard and Alexandra Grande slipped from her grip and rolled far away from her. May propped herself up on her elbows, Oran and Nichol weren't far away, but she could tell they were getting exhausted, and her leg was practically throbbing with pain at this point. Things weren't looking great for them, the Drakodo opened it's mouth and leaned in slowly towards Maybelle, savoring the moment before the kill. May could only sit and watch, her burn protesting against any further movement for the time being. She'd given it her best shot she supposed, her parents had warned her about the dangers of the life she'd chosen, her dad knew more about that than most, but she'd just told them they were worrying too much. Besides, Maybelle didn't want to spend the rest of her life working on some farm in the middle of nowhere, she wanted to make a difference in the world, and when she knew she could, there was never any doubt about what she'd wanted to do with her life. Even now, she could firmly say she had no regrets about following her dreams.

Maybelle could feel the heat radiating off the Grimm's body as it got closer to the prone cow faunus. For some reason, she felt herself drifting back, thinking about the previous night. She'd been sitting in the cafeteria, generally bored out of her mind as Nebula and Gwen were going back and forth about something stupid. Then she'd heard it; That beautiful music, then she saw the girl playing it, sitting there in her PJ's with her eyes closed as she played that violin. This short cat faunus was completely unlike anything Maybelle had ever seen or heard in her life. She'd... actually felt a little shy about approaching the girl, which was a first for the usually outgoing blonde. Even though it had lead to a massive misunderstanding between the two, Maybelle was glad she'd talked to her that night. It's funny, she could almost hear a violin playing right now... wait.

Both Maybelle and the Drakodo's heads shot in the direction the music was coming from. May's face lit up as she saw Oreonna furiously playing her weapon, the song the same as before, but the tempo was much faster. The black and white haired cat faunus was staring intently at the Grimm, her gaze steely and focused.

The overgrown reptile charged at the cat girl instantly, it had learned that the small faunus' music brought pain and was rushing to snuff her out. But Oreonna just smiled as the Grimm failed to notice the several glowing blue circles appearing in it's path. Once it got close enough the icy blue chains shot out ensnaring the beast almost instantly this time. Maybelle needed no other sign to get to work as she grabbed her weapon and began her jumping ascent up the staircases again. Her leg burned in aggravation at all the movement, but the cow faunus used every last drop of adrenaline she had left to ignore the pain and continue.

Oreonna kept playing as the chains continued winding around the Drakodo. The cat faunus knew she only had enough dust left to try this spell one last time, so she had to make it count. The Grimm bucked and pulled at it's restraints, but for every chain it broke, another took it's place. The Drakodo reared back, gathering flames in the back of it's throat as it faced Oreonna, but the violinist just kept playing as she saw a familiar orange blur running up the back of the monster.

"No! Bad, lizard! BAD!" Oran shouted as he jumped up and slammed both his fists down on the Grimm's snout, slamming it's mouth shut. Oreonna played a high note and another chain shot out wrapping around the Drakodo's jaw, holding it closed. The Grimm's eyes went wide as the fire it'd collected had nowhere to go now, the glands on it's neck started to glow and expand until finally-

 _SPLORCH!_

they exploded, sending a wave of hot magma flying out of the new holes in the beasts neck, right towards Oreonna. The cat faunus hadn't planned on that, but then a wave of ice washed over the lava cooling it and stopping it just short of the cat girl. From her position, Oreonna could just make out an exhausted Nichol standing on the other side of the battlefield with her dust wand pointed in the direction of the frozen magma. The faunus definitely hadn't planned on that either, but gave the silver haired warrior a nod of appreciation.

The Grimm's struggles increased as whatever pain it was experiencing seemed to only increase it's aggression. Once again it started gathering heat as it's body lit up and released a large wave or scorching energy. Though it was much less intense this time, the wave still succeeded in weakening the chains holding the beast, but it was too late. The three hunters them had done their parts, all that was left was for Maybelle to do her job. Oreonna stopped playing and looked up, smiling at the blonde speck at the top of the exit to the Catacombs.

* * *

Eden Evergreen tapped her boot on the grass as she stood on the edge of the wide opening that made up the exit to the Blighted Catacombs. Professor Neight wasn't far off, choosing instead to wait under a bit of shade created by one of the many trees throughout the gardens of Shade Academy. All around him sat the students that had completed their initiation already, many of them were resting on the ground, having their injuries tended to or just chatting about their exploits in the dark caverns.

Eden cast a glance over at the group of a hundred or so children and gave a small frown. There were... less of them than she was hoping for. The deer faunus did her best not to dwell on the thought. It never got any easier though, sending children down into the depths of the academy with hopes that they'd return ready to begin their career as hunters, but at the same time she was fully aware that many of their bodies would never be found.

Eden let out a frustrated breath through her nose, then she heard the sound of Professor Neight's quiet footsteps approaching from behind, "Madame..." he started, a bit of hesitation in his voice, "don't you think it's about time we closed the tunnel?"

"A few more minutes. I can still sense some stragglers down there," Eden knew that she had to seal up the exit to the Catacombs soon. The Grimm inside would realize the way out was open and then it'd be a matter of time before they'd attempt a "jailbreak". A few had already tried and were immediately eliminated by the staff, but with every passing moment, the risk that a beast of actual consequence would make a break for the surface grew and grew. With a courtyard full of tired, inexperienced students... well, it would not end well, for anyone.

Neight took his usual spot at the headmistresses side, holding a hand up to the front of his face in an effort to shield his eyes from the setting sun over Vacuo. Eden knew he was having the same concerns float through his mind as well. "There's only so much preparatory combat school can do to get them ready for today," he said, "though, I do always find it noble how you wait patiently every year, like a concerned parent, for them to return from this trial," Neight smiled at Eden who couldn't hold back a smile of her own.

"I just love to see their faces when they emerge is all. That look of relief, the joy they show at just being alive... It reminds me of long ago... too long perhaps, when we were completing our own trials to get to where we are today." Eden chuckled lightly at the fond memory, "Better days, I suppose."

"Truly they were," Neight replied, "though perhaps not THAT long ago," He joked.

"Speak for yourself," the two old friends shared a quiet laugh there, out of the earshot of their new students. Eventually, the moment passed and Eden found herself once again staring down at the pit before them in quiet contemplation.

The pale bat faunus placed his hand on her shoulder, "Madame... I think it's time we-"

Suddenly a yellow blur shot up out of the hole. Both hunters were immediately on guard, until they noticed it was Maybelle Daffidys, one of the students undergoing initiation that they had both had their eyes on. Maybelle hovered in the air for a second, bringing her club over head, then with a bloodthirsty howl she plummeted back into the Catacombs.

For a moment the professor and headmistress stood in silence, attempting to process what they'd just seen, "Well," Neight said finally, "a few more minutes couldn't hurt, I suppose."

* * *

Oreonna, Nichol and Oran watched in awe as Maybelle dropped from the sky like a golden comet.

Oran, oddly enough, was the one to grasp the impending situation first, "Uhh, maybe we should mo-"

Unfortunately not fast enough, as the plummeting cow faunus slammed into the trapped Drakodo sending out a massive shock wave at the impact. The blast sent all three of the hunters in training flying as rocks and other debris flew off in every direction.

It was several moments later before any of the group began to stir. Oreonna stumbled to her feet, coughing as she slowly used the caves wall as support to help stand. She saw Oran to her left pushing aside a small boulder that had rolled on top of him, as well as Nichol to her right, dusting off her front with her free hand. After making sure Oran was okay, and getting grumpily waved off my Nichol, the cat faunus ran towards the epicenter of the impact to search for the forth member of their group.

Once she passed through the thick clouds of debris that had been kicked up, the cat girls eyes went wide as saucers. The crater was massive, the bright cat faunus didn't have the time or energy to try and calculate just how much force May had struck with, but she could safely assume based on the scene before her, it had been enough.

The Grimm was assuredly dead now, it's entire front half appeared to have been obliterated, and it's back half was quickly dissolving into thick black smoke. Whatever pools of magma or fire it had left behind seemed to have hardened to stone as well. There at the center where the deepest point of the crater was the cat girl saw the face down prone form of-

"MAYBELLE!" Oreonna cried out in alarm. The violinist quickly ran to her friends side, sliding onto her knees as she got close and adding scraped shins to the list of many injuries she'd suffered today. A pained groan from the blonde berserker put Oreonna a bit more at ease. Maybelle rolled over onto her back and blinked almost sleepily at the cat girl hovering over her.

Once her brown eyes had focused, the cow faunus looked around as best she could at the carnage she'd caused, "Huh... maybe... I overdid it?" she asked.

Oreonna laughed loudly, "Yeah, maybe."

"Told you... I jump good," May said as she slowly sat up.

"That you do," the cat faunus smiled as she helped the still dazed cow girl to her feet. Maybelle took a few unsteady steps on her own before stopping to try and collect herself,

then she immediately started to fall over.

"MAY!" Oreonna yelled as she did her best to catch Maybelle, throwing an arm around her to support her weakened friend. The cat faunus was surprised that Maybelle wasn't nearly as heavy as one might have thought, but then she noticed Oran had also grabbed the cow faunus and was helping to support her on the opposite side.

"S-sorry..." May apologized as she tried to regain her balance, "guess that took a lot more out of me than I expected."

"No worries, May," Oran said as he and Oreo threw the tired faunus' arms over their shoulders, "You killed the crap out of our clingy, lava loving friend. The least we can do is walk you across the finish line."

"Well then." Nichol cut in -whom Oreonna had noticed hadn't even bothered to try and help Maybelle, which did not earn the silver haired girl any points in the her book- "you'd best get started then."

Without another word, the stoic spear wielder started up the stairs. Oran looked at the steps, the exit was almost 100 stories up, and now they had to carry easily the heaviest of them all the way up.

"Well... crap."

* * *

"Nebula Violette, Gwen Darcy, Dew Gayl, and Octavia Ember," Eden Evergreen recited the names to the packed audience of the auditorium as she introduced the new students to the second through forth years of Shade Academy. "The four of you exhibited incredible courage and diligence in the face of the horrors below in the Blighted Catacombs," the headmistress turned to the four girls with a proud look in her eyes, "from this day forward you shall fight by each others side as team NDGO. Led by, Nebula Violette," The crowd lit up in applause and the group of girls smiled excitedly at each other, Nebula and Gwen exchanging high fives.

Just off stage, Oreonna took a deep breath to settle the butterflies in her stomach, "You ready?" Maybelle said from behind her.

The tall blonde stood next to her and Oran, while Nichol was off in the corner leaning against the wall with an angrier than usual look on her face. Oreonna chose to ignore her though, there was no way she'd let anyone ruin this moment for her, "I've been waiting for this day ever since I was a little girl," the cat faunus was practically beaming up at Maybelle, "I wasn't so sure before, but after everything we went through... Yeah, I think I'm ready."

Professor Evergreen gave their group a nod as the newly formed team NDGO left the stage. It was time.

The four of them ,with Nichol begrudgingly taking up the rear, stepped out and stood before their new headmistress in a line. Eden observed them briefly as the teenagers portraits appeared on the massive screen behind them for all to see.

"And lastly, Oreonna Delsole, Maybelle Daffidys, Nichol Cuillere, and Oran Bellows. The four of you have faced and overcame incredible hardships, through your teamwork and ingenuity you have emerged victorious today, may the lessons you learned in the Blighted Catacombs serve you well. From this day forward you shall fight at each others side as team MOON. Led by, Maybelle Daffidys."

It was official. Oreonna felt her excitement bubble over and she immediately wrapped her arms around Maybelle trapping the cow faunus in a tight hug. For a split second, the cat girl felt a wave of embarrassment at the her uncharacteristically impulsive behavior, mainly on account of the crowd of people still watching and applauding them. However, when she looked up at May and saw her smiling down at her, everything in the world just felt... right. Unfortunately whatever moment might have been happening was spoiled a bit once Oran latched onto Maybelle and Oreonna as well as he laughed excitedly. May started laughing too, and scooped both of them up in her arms and with little effort lifted them over her head.

Eden couldn't help but let a carefree smile spread across her face at the antics of three fourths of team MOON. Though, as she expected, the final member looked less than pleased. Just then, Professor Neight came walking out from backstage with a rather grave expression on his face, he swiftly moved right up next to Eden and whispered to her softly, "The Emerald City is calling."

Miss Evergreen looked at her second in command in disbelief. Why would he be calling her now? It must be important. Regaining her composure, Eden turned back to the microphone, "This concludes our initiation ceremony, all students should now report to their dorms. After all, you have classes tomorrow morning," without another word, the headmistress and her company turned and marched off the stage.

Oreonna was the only member of her team to notice the haste with which the two seemed to leave, but as Maybelle finally returned Oran and her to the floor, she didn't think much of it, the excitement of the day was way too overpowering. It was everything she'd ever dreamed it to be, even if it was in a different kingdom. She wished her dad was here to see her now, Oreonna reached up to the locket around her neck and stroked it gently with her thumb. Well... maybe he was here, in a way, but the cat girl looked forward to telling him all about this as soon as she got the chance.

Oran lightly punching the violinist in her arm pulled the cat girl out of her thoughts, "Ya see, Oreo?" he said, "Told you everything would work out, and hey, I didn't even have to beat up/get beaten up by Maybelle for you!"

"Wait, what?" May asked in confusion.

"Ha ha ha," Oreonna laughed loudly and awkwardly, "Stop talking now, Oran," she said in a threatening tone.

"NOPE!" the hyena faunus replied, "You heard Big Green, you're all stuck with me now. Forever and ever." Oreonna smiled as she looked at her new teammates, she could think of worse fates than being stuck with these guys. "Speaking of stuck together," Oran continued, "Hey, Nicky! You wanna get in on this-" The orange haired faunus turned around just in time to see the stage exit door slamming shut loudly, "Ooooookay, later then."

Oreonna rolled her eyes in exasperation, the silver haired girl seemed intent on ruining this celebration. So maybe things weren't exactly perfect within team MOON yet, but from that day forth, they'd have each other to rely on.

And in the trying times to come, they'd need just that.

* * *

Eden Evergreen's office was quiet. At the door stood Professor Neight, to ensure no one entered during this private conversation. The windows had been darkened even though the sun had set over an hour ago. The headmistress sat at her large round desk that resembled a gigantic tree stump, she leaned forward in her large oak chair and placed her head in her hands. The room was dark, the only light coming from a small lamp as well as the holographic display in front of her. On the screen was a man with grey hair and spectacles staring out at her with a sympathetic expression.

"Why am I just hearing about this now, Ozpin?" Eden didn't even look up when she asked the question, her tone was low and harsh.

Ozpin sighed, "I thought we could see to the situation on our own, but it has evolved beyond the control of General Ironwood, Leonardo, and myself. So we decided to bring you up to speed."

"That 'situation', you refer to, involves one of MY former students!" Eden said through clenched teeth.

"I am aware," the grey haired man's voice remained calm, "but what's happened here... it's unlike anything we've ever seen. It has to be handled delicately and discreetly, or we risk losing what's left of her."

Eden sat back in her chair, gripping the arm rests. She thought on her fellow huntsman and headmaster's words and slowly released her grip, as much as she hated admitting it, Ozpin was right, ""Is... is she comfortable as least? Is she in any pain?" The deer faunus asked.

Beacon's headmaster rested his elbows on his desk and his head on his hands and gave a grave look, "We're... doing everything we can. James assures me that the technology he's provided from his engineers in Atlas is state of the art. We will keep her safe until..." Ozpin hesitated and chose his next words carefully, "... until the time comes."

Eden swallowed the lump in her throat and felt it plummet all the way down into her chest, "I see," was all the headmistress could say. Images of a dark haired, brown eyed girl on her first day at Shade Academy rode through her head, "Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help, Ozpin."

"Of course, Eden, take care of yourself."

The screen disappeared as Ozpin ended the transmission. The deer faunus rested a palm against her head. How did this happen? How did things get this bad this fast? "Madame?" Professor Neight made his presence known again as he approached the crestfallen headmistress, "You mustn't blame yourself for this."

"Neight, Amber was one of my most gifted and prized students. I was the one in charge of her training after we found out about her aunts disease," Miss Evergreen looked into her dear friends sullen red eyes and smiled sadly, "there's very little blame to be directed elsewhere, I'm afraid."

The bat faunus placed his white gloved fingertips on Eden's desk. "Something like this has never happened before, Madame. Anonymity has always been the Maidens most powerful ally. No one could have known Amber would be attacked like this."

Eden remained silent as she placed her hands in her lap. Her job was to ensure her students left this school ready to face anything, and Amber? She'd been the brightest pupil the deer faunus had ever had the joy of instructing. So much promise. So much potential. Eden had even been the one to inform Amber about the secret of the Maidens when it became clear that the young girl would be the one to inherit her aunts powers of Fall. The headmistress had expected the seventeen year-old's reaction to be dire. Shock, disbelief, maybe even fear, all seemed to be rational reactions to being informed about the truths of the world, the truth about magic, but Amber was ecstatic, not so much about her favorite aunts illness, but still, eager to receive her powers to help humanity. That had always been her way, Amber was the standard to which Eden believed all huntresses should hold themselves to, and there could be no better candidate for the Fall Maiden in her eyes. Now though? Now Amber's fate had been all but sealed. Half of the Maiden's power had been ripped out of her by some unknown party, and if what Ozpin had said was true, it was only a matter of time until she... passed. Eden was overwhelmed with guilt and regret.

"So, what's the plan?" Neight asked. If he couldn't convince his long time friend not to blame herself, he could at least get her to focus on their next step instead.

"It's out of our hands now," the headmistress replied, "Ozpin will take care of her as best he can until we find out what to do with the power she still-"

"SHH!" Nieght interrupted, his hand out, indicating he wanted Eden to stop talking. The bat faunus faced the closed door to Eden's office with an intense look, he'd heard the footsteps approaching, it was quite late for a visitor. Eden stood from her chair slowly, her face a mask of stone as she rose, whatever this was, she was in no mood for it. The wooden walls of her office creaked as roots spread out from the floor, all of them pointing towards to door the deer faunus was staring at. Neight stuck a hand inside his jacket pocket and when he pulled it out, silver claws were attached to the fingertips of his gloves. The two faunus gave each other a knowing look, Neight nodded at Eden signifying that whoever it was, they were right outside her door now.

"Whoever's there, you might as well come in," Eden said in an impatient tone, the roots around her office pointed there sharp tips at the entrance. The door opened revealing a teenage girl with silver hair done up in braids on each side of her face and orange eyes.

Neight placed his claws back in his pocket discreetly, but Eden kept the weaponized roots at the ready. The bat faunus greeted the new arrival, "Miss Cuillere? To what do we owe the-"

"Place me on a different team," Nichol interrupted as she marched into the office, her fiery eyes locked onto Eden's green ones.

The headmistress said nothing at first, she just seemed to be appraising the girl in front of her, "Neight," Eden finally said.

"Madame?"

"Give us a moment to ourselves, won't you?"

Neight looked a bit surprised but nodded in acceptance before slipping out of the room. Eden retook her seat, "Is there a problem with the teammates I have assigned you?" she asked.

"Yes, I don't want to be on a team with them. Put me on a different one, or switch me with another student, I don't care," Nichol demanded.

"You seemed to have no problem working with them in the Catacombs though. I can't even remember the last time a group of first years took on a Drakodo and lived," Eden said calmly as Nichol fumed at her.

"You don't understand-"

"Oh I think I understand plenty, _"_ Miss _Cuillere_ ," Eden's emphasis on Nichols last name made the silver haired girl look uncomfortable, "I've been headmistress at Shade for many years and believe me when I say, I thought I'd seen it all," Eden's continued as Nichol stared at her with a confused look, wondering where the faunus woman was going with this. "Delinquents graduating head of their class, promising hunters dropping out a week before graduation, I've even seen a girl who claimed she could actually speak to Beowolves," Eden smiled at the many memories acquired over the years, "but still, I like to think I'll always be surprised even in the years to come. Every year I have a new crowd of students come here with there own unique stories to be shared." The smile disappeared off the headmistresses face as she leaned towards Nichol, "For example; if a member of the most notoriously violent anti-faunus militia showed up at my door," Nichol's eyes went wide in horror, "wouldn't that be... interesting. Don't you agree, Miss Acier?"

The silver haired girl seemed frozen under the headmistresses gaze, she reached for her weapon that was still on her back from initiation.

"Don't." Eden commanded, raising just a finger in Nichol's direction which caused all the roots she'd prepared to lash out at the teenager. The pointed edges stopped about an inch from the panicked girls neck, causing her grey aura to flicker in reaction and Nichol went still. The deer faunus sighed, "I'm not going to hurt you," Eden said, "but you will answer a question that's been burning in my head ever since I first laid eyes on that forged transcript you tried to slip past me."

Nichol slowly lowered her hand from her spear, her gaze defiant. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"No good ones I'm afraid," Eden smiled in amusement as the needle like roots moved away from Nichol's throat.

The huntress in training let out a huff at being found out on her first day at Shade, "Then ask them."

Eden narrowed her eyes a bit at the girls poor attitude, "Why are you here?"

Nichol looked at her headmistress with an emotionless expression, "I need to become stronger."

The deer faunus was quiet a moment as she seemed to analyze the blunt answer, she was left unsatisfied, "Why?"

"Revenge," the response was without hesitation or second thought. Nichol's expression became dark as she tightly closed her fists at her side.

Eden closed her eyes in frustration, that's what she'd been afraid of. She couldn't teach this one, this kind of story never ended well. No, the smart thing to do here would be to expel this troublemaker immediately. Every second this girl was here she was putting the entire student body, human and faunus alike, at risk, but the smart choice and the right one rarely ever coincide. Besides, there were still things Eden wanted to know about this girl, and sending her away wouldn't get the antlered faunus any answers.

"Then why Shade?" the headmistress asked, "You could have forged your way into any academy on Remnant. Why chose one with a student body consisting of mostly faunus? The very race Humanities Hand has been trying so hard to eradicate?" Nichol broke eye contact, choosing to look at the floor in front of her instead of the faunus' piercing gaze, "It seems to me that this is the last place I'd expect to find someone like-"

Eden stopped as the light bulb went off in her head. Nichol looked back up, trying so hard to look angry. Miss Evergreen saw past her visage and on to the fear behind those orange eyes. This girl... she wasn't a saboteur, or an assassin, she was running, or hiding from something... or someone.

A defector? The deer faunus still didn't understand completely, the kind of hate the Hand bred into it's members didn't just go away. So it certainly wasn't morality that made Nichol leave, so then what was it? It was something beyond fear that drove this girl away from her people. The young huntress still said nothing as the two waited in silence. Eden had gotten answers, not all of them, but the look on the silver haired girls face said that pushing her any further right now would get them nowhere.

The already emotionally exhausted headmistress took a deep breath, "Your request for team reassignment is denied," she said bluntly. Nichol looked back in frustration, but offered no rebuttal, "That being said, I won't keep you here against your will. You paid for an education, no matter where that money may have come from," she added accusingly, "it is up to you whether or not you choose to waste that." Eden entwined her fingers on her desk, "However, if you do leave you can rest assured that I will see to it that you and your forged transcript never see the inside of another academy in any kingdom you run to. Are we clear?" Nichol's earlier glare returned, aimed squarely at the headmistress who was basically blackmailing her. Eden smiled back wryly, "I thought so. It is my humble recommendation that you take the time to actually get to know your new teammates before you decide they aren't worth your time." Eden's tone took on a softer note, "What I saw down in those Blighted Catacombs, the four of you can do great things. But only if you're willing to look past your preconceived notions about my kind." Nichol remained stone faced at Eden's words, but the deer faunus wasn't naive enough to assume she'd be able to smooth out years of discrimination with mere words alone. "I beseech you," the headmistress pleaded, "don't waste this chance you've been given."

The young huntress in training looked conflicted for a moment, her balled up fists relaxing slightly. She closed her eyes and took a breath, her angry look returning to her face when she reopened her orange eyes, "So, are we done here?" she asked.

Eden furrowed her brow at Nichol, "Yes, for now."

Nichol turned to leave, opening the door slightly but stopped at the exit. The silver haired girl looked back over her shoulder and spoke, "Are you going to tell anyone?"

Eden waited a beat before answering, "No, I don't suspect the other students and staff would be as forgiving as I am, and that would not provide a productive learning experience for anyone," the headmistress stood to her full height, antlers giving her pose a sense of intimidation, "but know this, Miss Cuillere; If you harm any of your fellow hunters in training during your time at Shade, you'll find that my forgiveness is not infinite, and there will be severe consequence. When I say that, know I'm not simply referring to expulsion."

Nichol didn't offer any reply, she just disappeared out of Eden's office, the door swinging shut behind her. The deer faunus slumped back into her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Madame?" Professor Neight said re-entering the room and taking his usual position at Eden's side.

The headmistress of Shade Academy was exhausted, but still managed a slight smile, "I suppose you heard all of that?"

"My word! What a preposterous accusation my dear Miss Evergreen!" Neight said in an over-dramatic fashion, bringing his hand to his heart as if he'd been struck there, "Me? Eavesdropping? The very thought!" the bat faunus added with a sly smile, "But.. in all seriousness, how do you wish to proceed?"

Eden let out a long, deep breath from her nose, "One day at a time, old friend. It's certainly going to be an... interesting year."

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 _ **A/N- Aaaaaaand there it is, the end of the "Shade" arc of this story. I've already got another chapter ready to edit and stuff, hopefully it'll get done in a reasonable amount of time, for reference this one was supposed to be done as a Christmas present... woof.**_

 _ **Aaaaaanyway, I'd like to get a little sappy for a moment if I could and say that I was incredibly nervous about posting this on this site. This is the first story I've ever written (and posted) online and I want you all to know I value every review, follow and fav you've all given me. but you do know that such behavior is only going to make me want to post more? Right?**_

 _ **I'd like to keep this going, and if you all want to be patient with me and stick around, I can't see why I shouldn't. Thanks again for reading! Hope to have more for you all soon!**_

 _ **Next Chapter- The "Sterling" arc begins. Our team has been assembled, but will they be able to act as one?**_

 _ **:P**_


	11. With Friends Like These

_**A/N Holy crap, it's back... sorta. I notice I got a few new people showing up, so I figured I'd put the next chapter I had done up. ENJOY!?**_

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 **Chapter 11- With Friends Like These...**

 _Hey, Dad, me again, here with your weekly update on the exciting, peril-filled life of a huntress in training._

Oreonna sat cross-legged on her bed, resting her back against the headboard as she typed out an email to the her father on her scroll. The black and white haired teenager shuffled in place slightly as she tried to get comfortable against the wood supporting her as she continued to type.

 _Things at Shade are starting to quiet down, but I guess I can appreciate that. Especially after, you know, almost dying during initiation (jk ;3). Not to mention how hectic it's been settling in here, I can't believe it's only been a week, it feels like it's been forever since I left Vale._

 _I've been getting used to things, Vacuo is nice this time of year, maybe a little warm for my taste, but I hear winters gonna get pretty cold, so I better enjoy it while I can. Mirage isn't far away either, so I'm able to do a little shopping in my spare time, which would be nice if I had any money, but I'll figure something out._

 _All in all, not many changes with me. Still studying, still playing the violin every night..._

Oreonna frowned slightly.

 _... still miss you._

The cat faunus stopped typing for a moment as she pushed aside those familiar feelings of homesickness, she didn't want to make her dad worry any more than he probably already was. The cat girl had intended to use writing this letter as a distraction from such feelings, but now it felt like she needed a distraction from her distraction.

Living at Shade had been an adjustment to say the least, especially sharing a dorm room with three other people... well, two, really. Oreonna put her scroll aside and looked at her teammates, the ones present anyway, as she stretched out on one of the four beds in team MOON's room. Her partner Maybelle was sitting on her own bed to the cat faunus' left, the one closest to Oreonna. One of the cow girls legs was hanging off the mattress while the other was tucked beneath her, a textbook had been discarded next to her as the bulky faunus looked out the window between her and Oreonna's beds. She looked a little... forlorn was the first word that came to Oreonna's mind.

Before the cat eared girl could ask what was on her mind, a cry of, "Die, Penguins, Die!" rang out from the other side of the room. On the bed to her right, Oreonna could see a pair of orange, cleated sneakers as well as the legs attached to them, going off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. She could only make out Oran's knees from this angle as they twitched sporadically while the other "O" of team MOON shouted out; "NO! Not my parsley!" He was probably playing a game on his scroll, or at least Oreonna really hoped he was, otherwise his outbursts were very concerning to say the least. As the cat eared girl looked over at Oran, she couldn't help but also notice the fourth bed in the room, still as made and un-slept in as it had been when the four of them had first been shown to their dorm seven days ago. A large, locked suitcase next to the bed was the only piece of evidence in the room that their was a fourth member to their team.

Oreonna had barely even seen Nichol at all since initiation, aside from the classes the two of them shared. The violinist wasn't exactly torn up about the crabby girls absence, mind you, the two of them hadn't exactly bonded in the Blighted Catacombs, not to mention the brief interactions between the two before that.

However the fact that MOON was fractured made Oreonna uneasy and it was starting to effect the team's performance as a whole. Nichol never showed up for training or studying when they met up, she barely even spoke to any of them unless she absolutely had to, and apparently the silver haired girl didn't even deem them worthy of sharing a room with. Other teams at Shade seemed to be progressing and getting along just fine, it seemed like it was only the four of them that were having trouble. It was becoming apparent that without Nichol's cooperation, team MOON was going to start falling behind their classmates.

Oreonna sighed quietly. So things weren't perfect just yet, at least as far as her team was concerned, but aside from that, Shade was a dream come true for the cat faunus. The classes were exciting and challenging, the teachers were engaging, as well as all being distinguished huntsmen in their own right, and most of her teammates were-

Oreonna then realized she hadn't really told her dad about her teammates yet. The night that their team had been formed, she'd shot a quick message to her father to let him know she'd arrived safely and passed initiation, but in all the excitement, she'd completely forgotten to mention the people that had helped make it all possible, the cat faunus inwardly scolded herself for being so careless and rude. Without wasting another minute, Oreonna picked her scroll back up and reopened the e-mail she'd been typing;

 _Oh yeah! I totally forgot to tell you about my awesome new teammates!_

 _The first one I met when I got to Shade was Oran. He's funny, or at least he thinks he is. Honestly I feel like I spend ninety percent of my time with him rolling my eyes at his lame "jokes". Seriously, I think my eyes have gotten more of as workout from him than the rest of me has from the actual training here._

 _But I'll give him this, he's great in a fight, I'm glad he's on my side because the guy can punch like nobodies business. He helped me a out a lot when I was down in the dumps my first few days here, he was the first one to make me feel at home. Oran's a good friend, I'm glad I met him, but I can't help but feel like he's hiding something. He has these prosthetic forearms and hands and whenever someone asks about them, he gets real quiet and tries to subtly change the subject. I know something happened to him, but he doesn't seem to want to talk about it, and I don't think it's a good idea to push him. I guess I just have to have faith that he'll tell me when he's ready. I really want to be as good a friend to him as he's been to me, it's the least I can do._

 _Alright, next up is Maybelle. She's..._

Oreonna stopped herself for a moment as she tried to decide what words to use to describe her partner, but there were so many that came to mind. Strong, capable, kind, compassionate, fierce, too many to chose from really... Oreonna gave her head a quick shake to clear her wandering thoughts as she finally settled on a fitting word;

 _... amazing._

The cat faunus smiled to herself, she really couldn't have ended up with a better partner in her mind. Don't get her wrong, Oran would have made a great partner, and Oreonna certainly didn't envy the one the hyena boy had ended up with, but May was... different, she was just the kind of person Oreonna needed when getting used to a new space. The cat girl wasn't really the best at settling in at new locations apparently, but how could she have known, she'd only ever lived in one place before and the broadening of her horizons threatened to take a toll on her. With the craziness of this first week; new school, new classes, new teachers, Oreonna felt like her head was spinning most of the time, but May had been like a rock for her. Every time the cat girl had felt overwhelmed Maybelle was there to bring her back to down to earth, reminding her to take a much needed breath every once and a while. It had been the same way during initiation, Maybelle had kept calm under pressure and led the four of them to victory, her being chosen as their leader had been no surprise to the cat girl.

Oreonna had always been drawn to that kind of reliability, maybe it had something to do with growing up without a mom, her life had always been a little... unstable. Living in a single parent household wasn't exactly easy for father or daughter, they loved each other, but Oreonna always had to accept the fact that her dad wasn't perfect. He had broken more than a few promises in her life, not because he WANTED to, usually it was because he was working hard to keep them fed, afloat, or most of all, making sure Oreonna stayed in school, so she understood why. Eventually, the cat girl had just learned to accept that things probably weren't going to go her way most of the time, not because life was necessarily "unfair", it was just the way things were. But then their were people she met that just seemed to have everything put together, like they'd figured out a way to make this whole thing just... work, and Oreonna had always admired those people and the calming aura they had. So it made sense that the timid faunus was becoming such fast friends with Maybelle, she just represented everything Oreonna wanted to be, and with her help, she felt like she might just be able to get there someday. The cat girl rolled her eyes, if Yang were here, Oreonna was sure she'd probably make some kind of joke about how her faunus friend was just latching onto a different tall blonde or something. The cat girl made a mental note to write another email after this for her friend back in Vale whom she also missed.

However, without even realizing it, Oreonna found that she'd managed to type one long run on sentence about just how "amazing" her teammate was during her reminiscing. Rereading it, she found herself oddly flustered by what she'd written about Maybelle, she'd never really spoke/wrote about someone else so highly before, not even Yang, she was placing a lot of trust in May, who she'd really only just met. Of course, there was a part of the faunus girl hated that she needed someone in that way, that same part of her that had such a low opinion of herself and was always quick to criticize any mistake she made, she really didn't like that part of her, even if it had a point. She had to be independent now, she was training to be a a huntress after all, and that kind of life meant she couldn't always rely on others to help her. However, another -more sensible- part of her knew that she was still growing as a person and the only way she'd get stronger was with other peoples help, that's why they'd assigned them to teams in the first place, she imagined. That, and May didn't seem to mind that Oreonna relied on her, it was just another reason Oreonna looked up to her, in more ways than one given the height difference.

Still, it was a little embarrassing when she read back what she'd written, but who cared, it's not like May was ever gonna see it any-

"Hey, Oreo. Whatcha working on?"

Oreonna practically leapt up to the ceiling in shock when Maybelle suddenly seemed to appear next to her, looking over her shoulder at the black and white haired faunus' scroll. The flustered cat girl let out a squeak of surprise, then in an attempt to hide her embarrassing thoughts, she shoved her scroll down the crack between her bed's headboard and the wall it was against. The poor handheld device made a loud "thunk" as it fell out of sight behind Oreonna's bed.

Both faunus -Oreonna included- stared in confusion at what had just transpired. Maybelle was the first to speak up, "Uhhh... what was-"

"N-nothing!" Oreonna stammered out as she felt her face heating up, "Just sending an e-mail to dad is all." Somehow, in trying to avoid one mortifying situation, she'd steered directly into a worse one. Awesome. Seems pretty on par for the cat girls social skills.

"Uh-huh," the tall cow faunus said with a smirk, "Okay, cool," Maybelle turned away and walked back to her bed and resumed looking out the window sadly.

"Hey... everything okay?" Oreonna asked. If she felt so bad about relying on May, then maybe she'd feel a little better if her friend could rely on her too.

"Hmm?" Maybelle snapped out of her thoughts before rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly, "It's... never mind, it's stupid, don't worry about it," Oreonna raised an eyebrow and stared the cow faunus down, silently urging her to continue anyway. "I guess... I'm just feeling a little homesick is all," the blonde finally admitted, letting out a small chuckle, "but I guess I probably shouldn't be complaining to you of all people about that, huh?"

"May..." Oreonna said sympathetically, "My feelings don't magically make yours unjustified, there's nothing wrong with missing your home and family, no matter how far away they are." The cat faunus understood too well what May was going through. The only difference between them was that May's family was on the same continent as Shade at least, since the cow girls home was only about an hour away. Sure it was nothing compared to the long airship flight that Oreonna had to endure, but that didn't mean she couldn't sympathize.

Maybelle seemed to brighten up a bit, but she still seemed a bit depressed. "Thanks, Oreo, but it's not just that, it's..." the bulky faunus looked like she was about to try and dismiss the subject again, but the diminutive cat girl gave a look that made it clear her leader had her full attention now. With a sigh, Maybelle continued, "Back home, on the farm I grew up on, there was always chores to be done every morning, like tending to the crops or taking care of the livestock. It's not that I don't have stuff to keep me busy when I'm here, it's just... I miss taking care of things... I guess." The tall faunus started absentmindedly rubbing the cow ear on the left side of her head with her fingers as she looked off to the side, "See? Pretty stupid, right?"

Oreonna smiled up at May. How was it even possible for a person to be this caring? Not only that, but apparently the lack of things for Maybelle to shower with attention was causing the cow faunus actual discomfort. The cat girl had to just stop and stare at her partner and wonder just how someone like this was even real? She'd certainly never met anyone like Maybelle before.

That didn't solve the issue at hand though, Oreonna pondered for a moment as she looked at the window May had been gazing out. It was fairly big, about three feet wide, it slid upwards to open, the side of the academy it was on seemed to get a lot of sun during the day, and May said she was used to taking care of plants, so maybe...

"I know it might not exactly be the same, but.." as Oreonna spoke, she was putting the final touches on her idea, her taller friend giving her an intrigued expression, "what if you set up a flower box or something in our window? I mean, I doubt you'd be growing giant stalks of corn or anything in it, but it might help, you know, scratch that itch?"

Maybelle looked at her teammate, then at the window, as if she was trying to picture what Oreonna was suggesting, "That's... huh... wow, that's a pretty good idea, Oreo." The cat faunus felt her heart swell at how excited her bovine leader was at her solution, "Heh, I guess I shouldn't sound so surprised, since you're clearly the brains of this operation."

Suddenly, team MOON's dorm room started to feel very warm to Oreonna as heat rushed to her cheeks at the unexpected compliment, the cat girl really didn't think she was THAT smart, she'd just had a good idea is all. Sure, maybe her teammates weren't as... scholarly as Oreonna, but that didn't mean they were dumb... Well... it didn't mean they didn't try, but they had their own realms of expertise.

Maybelle, for example, was a genius on the battlefield, as was apparent when they faced off with the Drakodo in the Catacombs, without her, none of them would have made it out alive. However, as had become apparent in the last week of classes, the cow girls study habits were... lacking. That was okay though, Oreonna was a natural teacher, she'd tutored Yang and her friends more than once in preparation for exams at Signal, so Maybelle was far from the greatest challenge the cat faunus had faced. Plus... her helping meant she got to spend more time with May... that was... fine with her.

Oran, on the other hand-

"HEY!" a shout of indignation came from the pair of legs hanging off the bed to Oreonna's right. There was a brief struggle as the appendages wiggled to unhook themselves from the mattress, before they flopped off the edge and onto the floor. A moment later, a scruffy orange haired head, along with a pair of canine-like ears popped up as Oran rested an elbow on his bed, "I'm smart too! Why can't I be the brains?"

Oreonna accidentally let out a half laugh, half snort at that, then immediately slapped both her hands over her own mouth in surprise at her outburst. Maybelle gave her an amused look as another wave of embarrassment overtook the black and white haired girl.

Oran gave a shrug, "Yeah, okay, point taken, but I'm street smart! That's the best kind of smart!" he reasoned.

"Oran, the last time you went into the city alone you came back without shoes," Maybelle said with a deadpan expression, "that's-"

"A very long, heroic, yet ultimately, uninteresting story," Oran interrupted, "which -as I said then- I won't bore you with the details of," Oreonna snickered a bit, her hands still trying to hold back laughter. She felt bad laughing at Oran's "misadventures", but the hyena faunus noticed her and gave Oreonna a wide smile, it really seemed like as long as other people were happy, Oran was perfectly fine with being the butt of the joke.

Less funny, was the only male member of team MOON's grades. Oreonna had tried tutoring him as well, but Oran was a force to be reckoned with when it came to getting distracted, his level of ADD was staggering, and honestly, more than even someone like Oreonna could handle. He needed a much sterner hand guiding him than the timid cat faunus was willing to offer, someone like-

Almost on cue, the door to team MOON's dorm opened slowly, all three of the faunus' heads snapped in the direction of the sound, and to all of their surprise, they found the missing member if their team standing in the doorway looking as friendly as ever. Nichol didn't even make eye contact as the silver haired girl walked briskly over to her bed. She looked haggard, like she hadn't been sleeping well, or possibly at all, Oreonna didn't know as the human had yet to spend a night in the teams dorm. Wherever she was laying her head, it clearly wasn't a comfortable spot, her short hair was a mess, her braids looked sloppily tied at best, and her orange eyes had bags under them.

"Hey, Nichol, where have you been?" May asked, trying to break up the silence that had taken over upon her teammates entrance. Predictably, the cow faunus didn't get a response, or even a look from Nichol, "Uhh... okay? We have that practical exam today in Professor Neights class so-"

"I know," the aggravated girl snapped as she dragged the old piece of luggage out from under her bed. All three of her teammates had been curious about what was inside the only personal belonging Nichol had, but the silver haired girl was the only one with a key and with her body obstructing it's contents, it seemed like the mystery would be solved at a later day.

"Oh... alright? Well, we'll see you there then," Maybelle said, finishing up the mostly one sided conversation as Nichol fished out a key from her pocket and popped the large padlock off the latch of her suitcase. The spear wielder grabbed a book out of the trunk before quickly re-locking it and shoving it back under her bed, then she turned and started marching out of the room.

"Wow," Oran said, a smirk forming on his lips, "I know we all have baggage in our lives, but at least Nicky was smart enough to hold onto the key to hers,"

The glare Nichol gave Oran was so venomous it made all the three of the faunus on the other side of the room flinch at the sight of it. The now thoroughly agitated huntress in training let out a snarl before opening the rooms exit.

"Oh wait, Nichol!" Maybelle shouted in a vain attempt to stop her teammate, "I was hoping we could maybe hash out a strategy before we-" SLAM! "Aaaaaaand she's gone. Super," the cow faunus sighed in exasperation as she fell back onto her bed.

Oreonna felt bad for her leader, it couldn't be easy leading a group of people who barely knew each other, and Nichol certainly wasn't making things any easier. The cat faunus looked to the digital clock on her nightstand, "We... should probably get going too, don't want to be late, right?" she said.

"Yeah," May replied dejectedly, as she stood back on her feet reluctantly.

"Um..." Oreonna rubbed her forearm sheepishly, "before we go..." May raised an eyebrow at the cat faunus, "do you think you could help me get my scroll?" Oreonna finally said as she meekly pointed at her bed.

The cow faunus let out a small chuckle, "Sure,"

After moving Oreonna's bed single handed, Maybelle and her two friends made their way out of their dorm and started heading towards the arena. Oran was smiling brightly and throwing a few practice punches out in front of him as the group walked together.

"You seem a bit more hyper than usual, Oran," Maybelle noticed as the hyena boy brought his mechanical fists up to his face and did a few quick dips and dodges as if he was maneuvering around an imaginary opponents jabs.

"Hells yeah!" he said pumping his arms, "It's our first big combat exam as a team since the Catacombs! It's gonna be great!"

His female companions didn't share his enthusiasm. "Yeah, it might be, if one of us wasn't exhibiting all the social and cooperative skills of a brick wall," Oreonna said bitterly.

Oran scoffed as he waved off the violinist, "Pssssh, what, you're worried about Nicky? It'll be fine."

"I don't know, Oran..." May said, clearly nowhere near as optimistic as the orange haired teen.

"C'mon guys, I known the Nickster is a little rough around the edges," Oran said in the biggest understatement of the week, "but she put her differences aside and worked with us against that giant nightmare lizard, didn't she? Trust me, give her a chance, and you'll both be surprised." May and Oreo exchanged worried looks, but Oran was seemingly determined to put there minds at ease, "It'll be fine!"

* * *

"THIS IS NOT FINE!" Oran shouted as he was carried upwards into a massive tornado, the ground getting further away as he rose.

A few moments earlier, a buzzer sounded off signaling the start of the exam, it was team MOON versus team NDGO in the last match of the class. The arena at Shade Academy lit up in a chorus of excited shouts as the large stone coliseums stands were occupied by a handful of other students excited to see the outcome of this fight. The sun shined brightly on the sand covered field of battle through the open roof of the coliseum, several sandstone structures jutted out of the earth giving off the appearance of some ancient dilapidated ruins. On one end of the battlefield, team NDGO darted forward, Nebula Violette in the front with her crossbow at her side. On the opposite end, team MOON also made their way across the sandy terrain, Maybelle eagerly leading her own team, flanked by Oran and Oreonna with Nichol bringing up the rear.

The blonde berzerker had tried to discuss some kind of strategy before the exam began, the cow faunus knew enough about Nebula and Gwen's abilities from their time together at Vast to offer some info, but NDGO's two other members she had no clue about. Of course, Nichol had opted to stand off to the side with her arms crossed, looking in the other direction during May's explanation, so there was no telling if anything the blonde had said had sunk in, or if the spear wielder had even wanted it to. Regardless, team MOON charged on.

"Oreo!" May shouted to her black and white haired friend running to her left, "Take care of Octavia!" Oreonna nodded and shot off towards her red headed opponent. "Oran! Dew!" the hyena faunus slammed his metal knuckles together and smirked, then fired off a blast of wind behind himself with both his arms sending him soaring towards his own target. "Nichol! You're on-" sure enough, Maybelle looked back to see her silver haired teammate was nowhere to be found. The cow faunus frowned a bit, even someone with her level of patience was starting to get annoyed with Nichol's lack of cooperation.

The blonde faunus turned back just in time to see a crossbow bolt flying towards her face. Luckily, she already had Alexandra Grande in hand and was able to bring her weapon up in time to deflect the arrow with the sturdy wooden club. Maybelle heard a giggle as she lowered her weapon from her view, "Gotta stay focused, May," Nebula said, standing in front of the cow girl smirking as she loaded another shot into her crossbow. May smiled back as she took her weapon in both hands and lunged toward the purple haired girl.

Unbeknownst to the students engaged in combat, Gwen Darcy was lurking just out of sight, four of her many throwing knives clutched between her fingers. The darker haired girl wasn't one for fighting up close, instead she chose to attack and support from a distance with her near perfect accuracy. From her position behind one of the many pillars sticking out of the sand, she scanned the combat zone looking for a target, then Gwen saw Octavia battling against a black and white haired faunus a short distance away from her.

The fiery red head seemed to be holding her own well enough, matching the cat girls sword strikes with her flame coated blade, but her opponents shield was giving her trouble since it offered defensive as well as additional offensive options with it's sharp edges. Gwen continued watching as Octavia let out a wave of fire from her weapon, but the faunus protected herself with her shield and immediately leapt forward for a counter attack.

Her target found, Gwen brought her knives up, preparing for a throw, but stopped when she noticed the shadow of the pillar she'd hidden behind had a human shaped silhouette at the top. The knife thrower looked up quickly to see a girl with silver hair and two long braids framing the sides of her face perched on top of the structure looking down on her with menacing orange eyes. Gwen took a step back in shock and the girl jumped down at her thrusting her spear at knife thrower.

Meanwhile, Oran launched himself with another burst of air towards Dew Gayl. The blonde saw him coming a mile away -Oran whooping like an idiot didn't exactly help him- and readied her staff, pointing its tip towards the advancing faunus. Once he was in range, Dew gripped her weapon tight as the dust crystal in it lit up creating a torrent of wind right in the hyena brawlers face sending him flying backwards rolling across the desert terrain.

Oran hopped to his feet quickly mid roll and dusted himself off, "Oh hey!" he said excitedly, "another wind dust user, person.. thing... neat!" the hyena faunus readied a fist as Dew rushed forward, her staff pointed at him again. "OK then, let's see which one of us blows harder... no, wait-"

The blonde fired another burst, cutting the orange haired teen off, but Oran was ready this time and threw a punch full of wind dust energy before it could hit. Dew's staff was powerful, but while her weapon fired air out in a spread, Oran's gauntlets shot a straight, focused, blast of air, much like a punch, right through her attack, dispersing it and sending the blonde off balance for a moment. That was all the invitation the hyena faunus needed as he charged in, nailing Dew with a few quick punches to her stomach and then one massive uppercut to send her sprawling. The blonde landed a few feet from Oran and struggled to get up to her feet, her head was down and she had the top of her weapon embedded in the sand to support herself.

Oran stopped his assault momentarily and flicked the side of his nose with his thumb in a taunting manner before approaching the downed huntress in training, "C'mon! If you're holding back because of the dumb 'blow' joke, I can assure you it wasn't my best-"

Dew's head shot up as she slammed her staffs head into the ground, sending a wave of sand up into Oran's face. The hyena boy coughed and sputtered as he stumbled backwards, "Ack! My beautiful face holes! Why!?"

After a few seconds of rubbing, Oran managed to crack an eye open to see Dew slowly churning her weapon out in front of her as she conjured up a small, green tornado about as tall as herself. Still slightly discombobulated, Oran fired out a few bursts of wind at the forming storm, but the man made twister seemed to absorb the shots and got bigger before Dew thrust her staff in the orange haired jokester's direction, sending the tornado forward.

Oran smiled as he planted his feet firmly in the ground, "Alright then, you asked for it, vile tornado!" the faunus inhaled deeply, his chest expanding to the same impossible proportions as usual, then he exhaled with all his might.

Oran's plan had been to overpower Dew's attack with his own and send it back towards it's creator, but unfortunately Oran was definitely not the brains of team MOON, as was demonstrated when his counter attack just made the tornado grow larger and larger, it now towered over the battlefield as Dew struggled to regain control of it. The now exhausted faunus boy stared wide eyed at the mess he'd created as the twister continued towards him, he tried to run, but using his semblance always left him out of breath, so he didn't get far before he felt the earth beneath himself start to drift away.

This was the point where things started to go downhill for team MOON.

Fortunately for Oran, the extra force he'd added to the tornado made it stronger, but also caused it to burn itself out faster, as the dust energy used to create it died out before the hyena faunus was more than a few stories off the ground. Still, as the storm dissipated, it sent Oran flying off and made him collide with several of the sandstone structures on his trip towards the ground, crumbling them into pieces before he landed out of bounds.

A loud buzzer went off signaling that Oran Bellows had been eliminated, the hyena boy tried to stand but his arms gave out from under him. The out of breath faunus settled for rolling on to his back and giving a thumbs up to no one in particular, "OK... (wheeze)... good game..."

May had been locked in combat with Nebula when she heard the buzzer, she looked up at the large screen hanging above the battlefield and saw that Oran's portrait had been X'd out. Dammit, she thought to herself as she saw the blonde member of team NDGO running across the arena towards Octavia and Oreonna. This is why the cow faunus had wished Nichol had just listened to her earlier, Maybelle's plan had been to have the spear wielder team up with Oran to take on Dew. The leader's reasoning being that they knew the least about Octavia and Dew's strengths, so they needed to focus on eliminating them first from the match. Now, thanks to wherever the silver haired girl had decided to run off to, Oreonna was outnumbered and-

Wait! May thought as she swung her weapon at Nebula, the dark haired girl having to switch her crossbow to it's sword mode in response. The gears finally clicked in place in Maybelle's head, she leapt up and slammed Alexandra Grande into the ground, the bell at it's end making a shock wave of sound and sand as it struck the earth, making Nebula scramble back to avoid the blast.

The cow girl saw her opportunity, "Oreo! Watch out!" she yelled at the cat faunus. Oreonna had her blade locked with Octavia's and looked back over her shoulder at the approaching Dew, "Oreonna! Time to even the odds!" her leader yelled.

The black and white haired faunus smiled, and as Dew went in for a blast from her wind staff, there was a telltale flash of light as two Oreonna's split apart in front of the blonde, not only causing her attack to miss, but also making the burst of air send Octavia flying back. As Dew let out a gasp of surprise at her own friendly fire, she was assaulted by the white haired Oreonna slashing at her with the sharp edges of Symphonic Discords shield, while a recovering Octavia was attacked by the weapons bladed bow courtesy of the darker haired half of the cat girl.

Maybelle let out a sigh of relief, impressed at how quickly Oreonna had managed to turn the tables in the fight back in there favor. That still left Nebula to her, and unfortunately the two of them continued to be locked in a stalemate. It'd been the same way back at Vast, Maybelle's power was easily countered by Nebula's speed, and vice versa, the two were an even match... usually. Today, however, in addition to focusing on fighting, May was also doing her best to try and keep an eye out for her teammates since this was her first outing as a leader. Add to that the stress of losing Oran so early, Nichol's disappearance, as well as May's distracted paranoia about having not seen Gwen since the start of the match. Though, the cow faunus had a feeling Nichol might have had something to do with her knife throwing classmates absence, or at least she hoped so. If Nichol was going to straight out ignore her leaders orders, she could at least try and be helpful by taking out an opponent or two. Regardless, Maybelle was optimistic enough to believe that maybe team MOON stood a chance in this fight now, but alas, things were about to go from bad to worse for them.

The black tailed Oreonna sneered as she parried another blow from Octavia's sword, making the red head stagger back. Octavia's sword glowed red as she swung her blade in a wide arc, sending out another wave of fire, Oreonna's blacked haired half raised her bow sword in defense, but without a shield the blast sent the cat girl skidding back on her feet. Meanwhile, Dew was firing off a constant flow of wind from her staff into the white cat eared Oreonna's shield pushing her backwards as well. None of this would be a enormous problem, expect for the fact that the two Oreonna's were getting further apart. The shield wielding cat faunus' normally peaceful face was starting to wince in pain as a migraine started forming in the back of her head, and her darker counterpart was experiencing a similar feeling as the distance between the two got greater and greater.

Maybelle didn't know this, but controlling two bodies was unsurprisingly stressful, Oreonna's semblance meant splitting her psyche into two halves, one serene and focused, the other aggressive and rash, the two main parts of her that made the cat girl whole. However the greater the distance between the two Oreonna's, the tougher it was to maintain the connection. In her studies to try and combat this weakness, Oreonna had compared this effect to a radio signal, the further the two points were from each other, the weaker the reception got. Oreonna was always trying to push herself to increase the distance she was able to work her two halves, but at present day, she couldn't manage more than 10 meters, even less when she was under assault.

Octavia delivered a downward slash to the already dazed black haired version of Oreonna pushing her even further away, the cat girl let out a short cry of agony as her counterpart over with Dew did the same. Then, as if pulled together by an invisible force, the two Oreonna's were thrust towards each other, colliding into one another with a second flash of light and leaving an exhausted, single, black and white haired Oreonna in their place. The cat girl panted on her knees as she grasped her head in pain, she barely had the strength to raise her head in time to see Dew pointing her staff in her direction, the dust crystal in it's tip flaring to life as it fired.

Maybelle's heart sank as she heard a second buzzer and turned to see Oreonna rolling across the desert sand as her aura broke, "Oreo! NO!" May shouted, Nebula saw her chance and slashed the distracted cow faunus across her midsection, taking a large chunk of May's aura with her. Maybelle gripped her side before growling in frustration and swinging her massive club one handed at Nebula in a wild attack, the crossbow wielder leapt back, landing next to Octavia and Dew who'd approached to assist their leader. The three girls smirked in superiority at their opponent, May held her weapon tightly in front of her, things weren't looking good, no way she could take all of them on her own...

Thankfully, Maybelle wasn't entirely alone, as she was reminded when a third buzzer rang out and Gwen Darcy came flying out from behind a nearby pillar, landing face down on the ground in front of her teammates, her aura completely gone. The cow girl looked on in awe as Nichol stepped out of the shadow of the same pillar, taking in the sight of the remaining members of team NDGO. The silver haired girl narrowed her eyes at the trio, before twirling her spear in her hand, launching four orbs of ice dust at the trio who had so kindly grouped themselves together making them an easy target. Octavia was quick to react as she swung a wave of fire at the ice, instantly melting it and sending the flames streaking towards Nichol. The spear wielder was unfazed by the approaching inferno and leapt into combat, instead of dodging the fire, she swung her weapons curved edge right into it, and no one expected what happened next. Nichols weapon seemed to absorb the attack as it's tip glowed red, then with a mid air spin, the orange eyed girl sent the fire dust attack right back at Octavia. The NDO of NDGO were caught off guard by the counter attack as the flames landed between them, kicking up a cloud of sand, the girls all coughed as they desperately tried to clear away the debris.

"Where is she?" Nebula shouted.

"I don't know! I can't see her!" Octavia yelled in confusion.

"Hold on!" Dew said as she used her staff to clear the air, revealing Nichol standing in the center of her opponents.

Before anyone could even gasp in surprise, the spear wielding warrior swung her weapon in a low sweeping circle, knocking all three opponents on their backs. Nichol wasted no time and continued her assault by rushing Octavia, the one with the lowest amount of aura at the moment. The red head hadn't even managed to get to her feet all the way before she was forced back to the ground, the girls sword coming up just in time to block Nichol's spear, but the power struggle that ensued wasn't going in Octavia's favor. As the point of Nichols weapon was being slowly forced down into the fire sword wielder's throat, Nebula and Dew had been able to recover and were about to leap in to assist when a giant club slammed in front of them. Nichol looked back to find Maybelle, who'd finally snapped out of her stupor, swiping her weapon upwards at the two girls, forcing them to back off.

The silver haired girl gave May an annoyed look, "I didn't need your help!" she growled out.

"Well, you just got it!" May replied as she batted away another crossbow bolt, "You're welcome by the way."

Nichol grit her teeth at the faunus, Octavia took advantage of the bickering between teammates and managed to shift the angry girls weapon so it implanted it's sharp edge into the ground just above her left ear, severing a few strands of her red locks in the process. Nichol looked back at her opponent just as Octavia kicked her roughly in the stomach, pushing herself back and using the momentum to roll to her feet. Nichol stumbled away and ended up standing back to back with Maybelle.

"You can't take them all on your own and neither can I, let me help you, Nichol!" the blonde berzerker pleaded, the two of them could only do this if they worked together.

But again, Nichol didn't listen and charged off at Octavia, the red head gulping loudly as the somehow even angrier girl stomped towards her, leaving May to take on Nebula and Dew alone as the two approached with haste. Octavia took a step back in an attempt to escape Nichol's growing wrath, but the orange eyed girl's look made it clear that if she wanted to get away, she needed to be a little more creative. Bending her knees slightly, the red head prepared herself and when Nichol swung her weapon Octavia pushed off with her back foot and started sliding across the sand beneath her feet.

Nichol's look turned to confusion as Octavia continued to slip across the desert arena seemingly surfing on the dunes around them. The red haired huntress leaned in and picked up speed before turning and rushing towards the spear wielder with her sword ready and delivering a quick strike across Nichol's shoulder, followed by several more quick slashes as she zipped by again and again. The orange eyed girl tried to regain the upper hand with strikes of her own, but Octavia's movements were too fast and erratic to get a bead on.

Finally succumbing to her growing anger, Nichol raised her weapon high into the air, ice dust gathering in it's tip, before slamming it in to the ground freezing the area around her. Octavia's feet went out from under her as the terrain went slick and she was sent sliding off, momentum completely out of control, but the ice didn't stop there. Meanwhile, Maybelle was having trouble fending off both Nebula and Dew, whose teamwork was much better than May and Nichol's at the moment, and the cow faunus soon found herself down on one knee and before she could get up the muscular blonde was hit by the full force of Nichol's ice attack. The faunus girl could only watch as the wave of ice washed over her, freezing her up to her waist and covering both her arms, and as luck would have it, Dew and Nebula were able to leap out of harms way just in time.

"H-hey!" May shouted over her shivers as she realized she was frozen in place, she tried to break herself free, but the fight had already taken too much out of her, no way she was getting out on her own. "Ni-Nichol!" her silver haired teammate looked back and Maybelle hoped she'd notice the predicament she'd just put her in and help, but instead Nichol rolled here eyes and went off after the weakened Octavia again.

Maybelle stared at Nichol in disbelief as she walked away, how could anyone possibly be this callous? Maybelle didn't have long to sit there before she saw the shadows of Dew and Nebula looming over her, Neb's expression was one of pity, but all the same, she raised her long sword above her head. The cow girl sighed and then grit her teeth as she prepared for what she knew was coming next, sure enough she soon felt the edge of her friends blade collide with her side. On the one hand, the blow was hard enough to knock Maybelle free from her icy prison, but at the same time, a fourth buzzer sounded off as Maybelle's aura dipped into the red.

Nichol didn't last long after that, as Octavia was joined by her teammates and the three on one odds soon overwhelmed the huntress in training. Maybelle just laid there where she'd fallen after Nebula's attack with her eyes closed as a final buzzer signified the end of the match...

... They'd lost.

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 **A/N- Eyyyyy short chapter, but its better than nothing, right?... right?... Well, at least we got a little action in here! Four on four fights are haaaaaaard, hope I did okay.**

 **Anyway, I had to split this chapter in half for reasons. I haven't quite finished typing up this arc yet as it turned out being a lot longer than I thought. Or rather, one chapter turned into four and here we are I guess?**

 **Hopefully we'll have another chapter done soon. Not sure if I lost any of you guys during the break, but like I said; I saw I got a few new watchers so I figured I'd update. Hope you like it! If you're new here, welcome! Leave a review? Don't? The choice is yours, my friend! I will surely continue to scream into the void regardless!**


	12. Salt in the Wounds

**Chapter 12- Salt in the Wounds**

May sighed as a wave of sadness washed over her body while she still laid silently on the warm sand of the desert arena, mourning her teams very recent defeat. It hadn't even been close, all four members of team MOON had been picked off and they'd only managed to eliminate Gwen from NDGO, not a fantastic first outing for the cow faunus' team.

Before Maybelle could dwell any longer, Nebula reappeared above her, looking down on her with a sorrowful expression and offering her friend a hand, "Sorry, didn't feel right knocking you out like that, but... y'know..."

May accepted her friends hand with a groan, "It's fine, I get it, it was a good match," she lied, the ease of her teams loss still stinging. As if to add insult to injury, it soon became apparent that Nebula alone wasn't going to be able to lift May from her position on the ground, despite the purple haired girls efforts. _When it rains, it pours,_ the muscular blonde thought to herself as she briefly considered the idea of just laying there and wallowing for the rest of her-

"May!" a familiar voice called out to Maybelle as the cow faunus saw Oreonna jogging over to her with a concerned look on her face.

The tall faunus offered a halfhearted smile to her partner, "Hey, Oreo," she said barely lifting her head off the sand, "you okay?"

Oreonna seemed relieved at Maybelle's alertness, but she still looked worried, "Me? What about you? Can you stand?" the cat girl asked while using one hand to massage her still throbbing headache. May let out a short laugh, who knew her partner was such a worry wart? But she had to admit, it was sweet that she cared.

Nebula smiled at Oreonna, "Don't worry, she's just moping is all, right May?" The cow girl sighed again before letting her head fall back to the ground, "That's what I thought. C'mon, let's try together," Nebula and Oreonna both offered the bulky faunus their hands, which Maybelle eagerly accepted. The cat girl and Nebula lifted the bovine faunus out of the pity party she was having and back to her feet. "Hey! You're that girl from that night!" Nebula said to Oreonna, "The one with the violin, right?"

"Oh... I guess? Um... you're... Nebula, was it?" the cat girl said awkwardly as she looked to her partner for confirmation.

May smacked the side of her own head as she realized she'd never formally introduced her two friends to each other, "Right! Nebula Violette, this is my bad ass. violin playing, giant Grimm slaying partner, Oreonna Delsole,"

The black and white haired cat girl looked away, pretending to be interested in shaking loose the grains of sand from her dress as her face tinted red at May's rather boastful description of her, "That Grimm wasn't THAT big..." she muttered under her breath, referring to the Drakodo team MOON had taken down during initiation. Maybelle just smiled, the cat girl was too damn cute when she got all flustered like that, and it made her waaaay to fun to tease, even if May did mean every word she'd said.

Nebula reached out, eagerly and energetically shaking Oreonna's hand, before pulling the cat girl in close, "So your the one stuck with this big ol' heart breaker, huh?" she whispered loud enough to be sure Maybelle heard.

The cow faunus winced at the cheap shot taken at her, "Hey, c'mon, Neb..."

The purple haired crossbow wielder waved her friend off as she rested her weapon on her shoulder, "Sorry, I'm only joking, May. You know that, right?"

Yeah. Maybelle knew that. It was just the way Nebula was, her friend always believed that the best way to get over something was to confront it, but still, it was a low blow, and Neb knew that.

"In all seriousness," Nebula said turning back to Oreonna, "you be good to Maybelle, okay? She's been through a lot." With that rather cryptic remark, the purple haired girl started walking away, back over towards her team, who were excitedly congratulating each other on their win.

Oreonna looked at May in confusion, "What did she mean by that?"

The cow faunus rubbed her sore shoulder as nonchalantly as she could, "It's... do you mind if we don't get into that right now?" she said dismissively.

The cat girl gave her friend a sad look, "Um... okay? Does it have anything to do with what you told me in the Catacombs?" Oreonna said, remembering how Maybelle had mentioned rumors being spread about her by someone during the blonde's time at Vast Academy.

Maybelle's face fell further, she closed her eyes as Oreonna's questioning was starting to bring some painful memories up in her mind, "Oreonna... just... not now, okay? I'm sorry," The small cat faunus gave her leader a sympathetic expression, but at the same time, the look made it clear that the matter was shelved, not dropped. Still, Maybelle was grateful for the reprieve.

"Oh hey! Look, everyone! It's Oran!" the hyena boy said dejectedly as he approached May and Oreo, "Boy, I'm sure glad he didn't get killed by that huge, frickin' tornado he was caught in," the orange haired faunus was rolling one of his robotic wrist in a circle as a small stream of sand spilled out of it's inner workings.

"I'm pretty sure that tornado was 80% your fault, Oran," Oreonna said with a smirk, "but I don't suppose many people would be brave enough to fight a force of nature on their own."

The hyena boy huffed as he clasped his mechanical fingers behind his head, "Totally almost beat it too, another round or two and I'd have knocked the wind right out of it," Oran winkled with a lazy grin on his face, eliciting a halfhearted laugh from Maybelle and an eye roll from Oreonna.

Team MOON's leaders gaze drifted over to where the final member of their troupe was leaning on her weapon for support as she ran a hand through her short, silver hair, like the rest of her team, she was trying to shake loose any sand that had gotten stuck in it during the fight. Maybelle thought back to the final moments of the match, Nichol could have easily freed her with a wave of her dust wand, but instead she'd practically cost their team the contest. Even from this distance, the cow girl could easily make out a look of disappointment and frustration on her loner teammates face that was similar to her own, and the blonde wondered whether or not she should say anything to her.

"Hey!" Unfortunately, Oreonna took the decision out of May's hands as she shouted over to Nichol in aggravation.

"Oreo, wait..." May said, trying in vain to stop her partner. It was no secret there was a lot of tension between Oreonna and Nichol ever since initiation, and it looked like the silver haired girls actions today had caused the situation to reach it's boiling point.

The spear wielder seemed content to ignore the violinist's call and began to walk away, "HEY! I'm talking to you, **Nicky**!" Oreonna yelled and Nichol stopped dead in her tracks.

Maybelle winced at the name Oreonna had used, this was going to end terribly. Even Oran seemed aware of the change in the mood, "Uhh... hey, Oreonna? Only I'm allowed to call her Nic-"

"DO NOT call me that," Nichol said through clenched teeth interrupting Oran as she looked back over her shoulder at the cat faunus.

"Oh, I'm sooooo sorry," Oreonna said sarcastically, "but now that I have your attention maybe you can answer me this; Why would someone want to come to a school that's foundation is built on teamwork, but then, not only refuse to work with anyone, but also actively work against their teammates?" Maybelle watched her partner with a surprised expression, she had never seen the cat faunus this riled up before. Oreonna was usually calm and timid, maybe even a little too shy for her own good, but as Oreonna continued to sass Nichol, the cow girl found herself seeing a completely different side of her teammate here, and she wasn't sure exactly how she felt about it. "Seriously, what is your plan here?" the cat girl continued, "Is it to make sure you alienate every person you meet? Because you are nailing it so far."

Nichol turned all the way around to face the faunus and took a threatening step forward, "You don't know a thing about what I want," the silver haired girl spat, her fists clenched tightly around her weapon as she approached Oreonna, "and it's none of your business why I'm here."

"Uhh... guys?" Oran tried to quietly interject, but was instantly ignored.

"Fine! But that doesn't mean you can just freeze your teammates to the floor because you're too stuck up to accept our help!" Oreonna was practically shouting at this point as Maybelle was realizing just how badly she'd underestimated how poorly this was going to go.

"I'll tell you what I told your bovine friend there; I don't NEED anyone's help. Perhaps if your partner had exhibited a bit more tactical awareness, she might have been able to avoid my attack," Nichol's calm tone was betrayed by the look of aggravation on the teenagers face, "it's not my fault she'd so dimwitted and clumsy."

Maybelle was a little put off by the silver haired girls comment, but she didn't let it get to her, she knew she wasn't exactly a genius, nor was she a graceful ballerina on the battlefield. It wasn't the first time someone had called her out on these flaws, and she'd been called far worse by people whose opinions she'd valued much more than Nichol's right now. You could say that Maybelle had just developed a thicker skin when it came to such insults, however Oreonna was completely unaware of this fact.

"How- how dare you! May did her best to save your ungrateful hide, and for the record, you aren't exactly perfect either!" the cat faunus shouted back.

This argument was reaching critical mass, even team NDGO had stopped talking and was listening in. Maybelle decided it was time to to step in, "Oreonna, you don't-"

"It sounds to me like you're calling into question my fighting skills," the cow girl was immediately cut off by Nichol as she stepped even closer to May's partner.

"Well," Oreonna said, a taunting smile on her face, "You did get beaten, just like the rest of us,"

The revolving dust dispenser on Nichol's weapon started whirring to life, "In that case," the spear wielder growled, "Why don't I give you a quick demonstration of my proficiency."

In response, Oreonna unsheathed her blade, her pink eyes locking onto Nichol's orange ones, "Sounds good to me... Nicky."

"Ho boy..." Oran said taking a step back cautiously at the sight of the look on the silver haired girls face. May's eyes went wide as her teammates reared back to attack one another. The cow girl was about to physically leap in between the two, but even at this distance, she knew she'd never make it in time.

Then everything went black. Not so much like the sun suddenly died, or she'd lost consciousness, but more like a creeping fog of darkness crept up behind Maybelle and then overtook all four members of team MOON. Maybelle could hear the sounds of confusion from her teammates in the now thick blackness and while this was most certainly concerning for all parties involved, at least it did seem to postpone Oreonna and Nichol's imminent clash. Then everything went quiet, the cow girl waved a hand in front of her face but saw nothing, this darkness was unnaturally strong, the tall blonde felt a chill travel up her spine as she began to panic slightly at this bizarre occurrence.

"You know, there are very few things in this world that I find completely intolerable," a voice cut through the darkness and when Maybelle turned to the source she saw a pair of glowing red eyes, the only light in the sudden night. The blonde berserker felt somehow paralyzed by those eyes as the voice spoke to her team and herself, "one of those things is fighting among teammates." Suddenly the sun's light shot through the dark as the inky blackness surrounding the teenagers swirled away from them and into the outstretched hand of Professor Neight, the combat class's instructor. The bat faunus continued glaring at the members of team MOON, the eerie light in his eyes fading as his look changed from murderous contempt to mild disappointment. His gaze settled onto Nichol and Oreonna, "Miss Cuillere, Miss Delsole," the cat faunus flinched at her name being called and the silver haired human merely looked off to the side, "need I remind the two of you that this class is about working as a team? If you wish to spar one on one, I believe we have another class for that," Neight said with a condescending tone to his voice. Neither one of the students seemed too keen to answer their instructor as they both stood in silence.

It may have seemed to most students when classes started at Shade that the bat professor's mannerisms were purely theatrical and perhaps overly polite, but that all changed once he walked into his classroom. He was relentless with his teaching, his classes were exclusively for first year students, and focused on reinforcing the lessons of teamwork learned in the Blighted Catacombs to ensure they stuck. In the syllabus on the first day, Neight had told all his students they'd work on form and technique during the week, and then every Friday he'd have the teams spar against one another while he evaluated their performance. This was only the first combat exam of the school year and it was clear that team MOON had not impressed their teacher.

"Miss Daffidys," Maybelle's head shot up when the professor addressed her, "as a leader you should strive to ensure that your teammates are able to coexist, altercations such as the one that almost just occurred are frankly unacceptable."

The faunus' cow ears titled down, she hated getting reprimanded, even more so when it was completely justified, "Yes, sir," she said solemnly, "I'll do my best to... work things out," Maybelle glanced over to Nichol and Oreonna. The two had backed away from each other, and re-holstered their weapons, the fight had stopped, but the way they were looking at each other made it clear the animosity between them remained.

"Hm. See that you do, my dear," Neight replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a silver pocket watch, the elder faunus turned to face the crowd of his pupils, "Well, it appears that is all we have time for today, students. You have my notes on your performances, review them this weekend, that will be all." Neight turned to the four teenagers still on the battlefield, "You four, wait a moment, I wish to have a word."

The crowd of huntsmen and huntresses in training filed out of the coliseum, leaving only team MOON, Neight, and one other in attendance. The huntsman professor approached the unknown sixth figure and offered them one of his trademark bows, "Ah, Miss Coarsola, as usual my classes would be lost without your assistance." The elderly woman seemed to barely acknowledge Neight as she stared at him with her wrinkled face in a bored/annoyed expression, the stout woman disinterestedly reached up and scratched the brown scales on her darkly tanned face, hidden under her wide brimmed sun hat. The bat faunus seemed a bit unnerved by this non-reaction to his mannerisms and tugged his collar nervously, "Yes... well... ahem... now then, if you'd be so kind, my dear groundskeeper, as to clear the terrain for our next class?"

Miss Coarsola trudged forward a few steps before crouching down on one knee and placing one of her dirt covered gloves on the warm desert sand. All the sandstone structures in the arena began to shake then crumbled back down into the sand seemingly at the old faunus' command and soon the coliseum was just a bare empty space with nothing but the dunes of the desert in it. The old woman placed a hand on her back to support herself as she stood with a grunt, dusting her gloved hands off on her dark colored overalls.

"Thank you again, Terraine," Nieght said as the groundskeeper turned and started walking away before he'd even started talking. The round woman made a noise somewhere between a grunt and an "you're welcome" as she moved towards a nearby rock in the sand with a beach towel on it. Miss Coarsola scrambled up the side of the rock before sprawling herself out on the towel and laying still, basking in the morning sun. All of Team MOON was transfixed on the bizarre scene, even Nichol had raised an eyebrow at the odd woman.

"Team MOON," Professor Neight finally said, addressing his students from under a black parasol he had produced from seemingly nowhere to shield himself from the sun, the pale faunus clearly wasn't a fan of harsh light, "I'll save you all the suspense of how you did in my evaluation today and let you know you did poorly, though I imagine that comes as little surprise," Maybelle huffed in exasperation, it was kind of obvious, "I understand this is only the first week of your time at Shade, but still as of today I can see you're all in danger of falling behind your classmates in terms of teamwork."

May looked to her team to gauge their reactions to this news, Oreonna shuffled in place, clearly not used to be scolded in such a way, Oran scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he looked off to the side, lastly Nichol was trying to appear disinterested by the bat faunus' words, but Maybelle could see her brow was slightly more furrowed than usual, so clearly she was feeling something in regards to the lecture.

"Like everyone else attending this school, the four of you made it this far on your own skills and strength," Neight continued as he paced in front of the group, one hand holding his parasol, the other tucked behind his back as he marched, "but without learning to rely on others, on your teammates, I'm afraid you'll find you can only carry yourselves so far on your own." The bat faunus adjusted his glasses on his face and sighed, "I will expect far better on your exam next week, do not disappoint me. That will be all, I'd hate to make any of you late to your next class."

The four students turned and left without a word, Maybelle noticed Nichol not even bothering to head to the locker room to freshen up after their sparring under Vacuo's harsh sun, she just stormed off out of the coliseum and back towards the academy. The rest of team MOON was quiet as they headed to their respective genders locker rooms, even Oran seemed a little glum after the events that had just taken place, especially considering how excited he'd been before the exam. May wiped the remaining sweat from her forehead as Oreonna and herself entered the girls room. After storing her weapon, the taller faunus walked over to the sink and untied the red handkerchief from around her head and placed it off to the side before splashing a bit of cold water on her face. The cow faunus reveled in the feeling as the dirt and sweat that had collected on her was washed away, unfortunately it did little to help Maybelle's mood.

Team MOON's first official outing since being formed hadn't been the resounding success she'd hoped it would be. When May had been named leader of the team, she figured it'd be no sweat, hell, she'd grown up taking care of six brothers and sisters, Maybelle figured she could handle three (almost) adults, but now she was starting to have doubts. The cow girl stared blankly into the mirror above the sink, her face still soaked with water, she never imagined it would be this hard leading others.

"Hey," Oreonna called out from behind her leader, when Maybelle turned, she just barely managed to catch the white towel her partner had flung at her, "you okay?" the cat girl asked.

"As okay as can be, considering," Maybelle replied as she wiped the excess water off her face, "I guess I haven't exactly been the best leader so far, huh?" the cow faunus picked up her handkerchief and stared at it for a moment before starting to tie it back in place over her hair.

"It... wasn't all your fault," Oreonna said, leaning a shoulder against the wall, "there were four of us out there, after all," she tried offering her friend a supportive smile, "plenty of blame to go around." The cat faunus frowned as she crossed her arms, "and... me getting Nichol all worked up probably didn't help... sorry."

Maybelle finished tying the knot to hold her accessory in place, "It's okay, I know you guys had a... rough start," the cow girl leaned back onto the sink as she spoke. Oreonna had told May about what their silver haired acquaintance had called the cat girl on the morning of initiation. _Grimmspawn_ , just thinking about the slur made a gross feeling swell up inside the blondes stomach. She'd heard that word a couple times in her life, never directed at herself, fortunately, but the instances it was used were never particularly spiritually uplifting. What would make a person want to call someone like Oreonna something so... terrible like that? Maybelle just couldn't understand, but even she could tell that Nichol had some kind of issue with faunus, and the fact that she now shared a team with three of them was not improving her feelings on their race.

"I... don't know what to do about her..." Maybelle admitted, it was a problem the cow faunus had never faced before, a person that was both unwilling to cooperate or communicate with others, "I thought that maybe if we just gave her time she'd eventually come around, but if anything it seems like things are just getting worse. Now it's gotten so bad, even Neight's starting to notice and..." the blonde berserker pinched the bridge of her nose with her finger and sighed, "I just don't know..."

Oreonna's face was full of sympathy for her friends plight, "I wish I could be more help with that," she said dejectedly, "but I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to getting people to open up, but if anyone can get that... girl to listen to reason, it's you, May," the cat girl broke eye contact and rubbed her forearm in that shy, awkward way that Maybelle couldn't help but find unbelievably cute. "You're... I think you're a good leader by the way, and I'm willing to do whatever I can to help with Nichol, and I'm sure Oran feels the same, or at least I think he would..." Oreonna started to trail off a bit as she mumbled.

May smiled at her partner, she wasn't sure if she agreed with Oreonna about her own effectiveness as a leader, but even if the cat girl had said it just to make her feel better, it meant a lot to Maybelle. Feeling her resolve strengthen slightly, May pushed away from the sink, "Thanks, Oreo," the blonde said as the faunus pair left the locker room together. They had one week before their next exam as a team, one week to get Nichol out of her self imposed isolation from her team. Maybelle still had no idea what she was going to do, but at least now she knew she wasn't in this alone.

Once outside, the two of them immediately ran into Oran who appeared to be deep in thought about something, that is, until his company arrived and the thoughtful expression on his face was replaced by his trademark grin, "Sup, lady dudes," Oran said cheerfully, "So, listen I was out here wracking my brain about-"

"Nichol?" Oreonna said flatly, "or more accurately, how to get her to be less... Nichol-y?"

The hyena faunus pouted slightly, "Okay, maybe you are the brains of this operation," he admitted with an huff, "but yeah, did you guys come up with anything? Because aside from terribly hilarious puns, I got nothing."

"We... look, we'll be late for our next class if we wait much longer," Maybelle said, "let's talk tonight in the dorm,"

The three of them started walking together back towards the entrance of Shade Academy. Once inside, the halls were lightly populated with a few students and teachers also hurrying to their next subject. Oran rested his robotic hands behind his head as he walked and smiled, "Glad to hear we have a plan for Nichol, because team MOO just doesn't invoke the same sense of mystery and elegance as MOON. No offense, May," The orange haired boy seemed especially proud of that one. Maybelle smiled, Oreonna rolled her eyes, and Oran let out a short, genuine laugh, and everything seemed right again. Their earlier defeat was the last thing on their mind now as the three of them prepared to take the lessons they'd learned today and use them to better themselves and their team.

But as May happened to look to her left, she saw Nichol standing in front of a massive faunus boy with shaggy brown hair and a pair of giant bull horns sticking out of his forehead over a face the cow girl found all too familiar, as was the large golden ring piercing in his nose.

 _Angus_... Maybelle thought to herself in disdain, having never gotten along with the bull faunus during their time together at Vast.

The -somehow even taller than May- muscular young man was flanked by the rest of his team; Team ANGS, named after the leader himself, as if the man's ego needed to be inflated any more.

The crowd of boys made a semi circle in front Nichol. Maybelle couldn't quite make out what the horned faunus was saying to her teammate, but it was clear from the silver haired girls body language that she was no less aggravated by the faunus' presence than she was her teammates'. Maybelle watched as the bull faunus raised his hand like he was about to poke Nichol in the sternum, but the orange eyed huntress in training deftly swatted his hand away, making Angus' maroon eyes light up in surprise, before he sneered down at the smaller girl.

Ever undaunted, Nichol stared the muscular faunus dead in his eyes and mumbled something that made Angus' face twist into rage. Maybelle was about to bring the situation Oreonna and Oran's attention, but before she could, Nichol stepped to the side around Angus, only to be stopped by the rest of his team, the four members of ANGS surrounding her.

Considering what had happened earlier during their exam, a more bitter person might have been content to watch as the teammate who'd left them frozen to the ground squirmed under this pressure, but that wasn't remotely how Maybelle operated. The cow faunus wasn't about to let someone be threatened like this, not even Nichol. May might not consider herself a decent leader at the moment, but she did consider herself a decent person, and she'd seen enough. The blonde broke off from Oran and Oreonna and made a beeline towards Angus, her hands already balled into fists.

May only got about three steps closer before Nichol nimbly slipped past the blockade around her and stomped off down the hall and into a nearby classroom. The situation seemingly having resolved itself, the cow girl stopped in her tracks as Angus and his cronies laughed and high-fived each other, no doubt celebrating the latest triumph in their cliche role of living trash.

"May? Is everything okay?" Oreonna asked as she finally caught up with Maybelle's giant steps, Oran not far behind. The cow faunus stared coldly at Angus as he turned to face her, a smug look appearing on his face when he made eye contact with Maybelle, then the four boys turned and walked away. "May?" Oreonna asked again, trying to get her partner's attention.

Maybelle crossed her arms and let a loud breath out through her nose in irritation, "We have a new problem."

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A/N- Aaaaaaaaaand cliffhanger! Also probably the shortest chapter ever. It's necessary though as I only have one more chapter ready to go for y'all (never used y'all before. It felt weird, I promise not to make a habit of it). No action this chapter, unfortunately we're in the character development part of the story, but I promise things will get more intense next chapter.

So yeah, Angus Carne, he will be our generic bully for the time being. Kinda like a Nega-Cardin if you think about it. Originality is hard.


	13. Shattered

**Chapter 13- Shattered**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back the truck up. You think that Nicky- our favorite, lovable grump, who has tried to kill each of us via glaring at least once, and whom I've seen slay giant Grimm without batting an eye- is being 'bullied?'" Oran sat on the edge of his bed with a look of disbelief on his face.

Across from him, sitting on Oreonna's mattress, was Maybelle and the cat faunus herself, the late afternoon sun shining in through their dorms window. "If Angus Carne is involved, then we can bet that's what I saw," May said with an annoyed look.

"You sound like you know from experience," Oreonna interjected softly, her hands clasped together in her lap, "I take it you two have a history with this 'Angus' guy?"

Maybelle could tell her partner was trying to get her to talk about what happened at Vast again, but this wasn't the time to get into that. Besides, Angus had played such a small part in what she'd went through it hardly even mattered in her mind, but she did know a thing or two about the bull faunus. "Yeah, me and Oran graduated the same year as him at Vast," the cow girl looked to her orange haired teammate to confirm to Oreonna, the only one in the room that hadn't attended the combat prep school.

"Yeah, Angus; Not just the founder of the douche bag club, but also a proud, card carrying member," Oran replied with an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. "I was really hoping he wouldn't get into Shade, honestly. Four years of sharing the same air as him was more than enough, reeeeeeeally not looking forward to making it eight."

Oreonna frowned, it seemed like she was starting to get a good picture about the kind of person Angus was. "Okay, so what's his beef with Nichol?" she asked. Oran snorted loudly from across the room, it took the cat girl a second to realize the pun she'd unintentionally made in regards to the bovine faunus. Oreonna put her face into her hands and slumped forward with a groan, "Oh my god. Oran, you are the worst."

The hyena faunus looked the proudest he'd ever been, "Heh, heh, my subliminal training appears to be working." The orange haired teen started rubbing his mechanical hands together in a sinister fashion, "Yes, Oreo, give into the puns, it is foolish to resist."

"Guys," Maybelle said trying her best to get her team to focus. Once she had the cat and hyena faunus' attention, May continued, "Angus just... hates humans, nobody knows why, he just does, and he goes out of his way to torment any that he comes across. The only thing he hates more than a human is a faunus who defends one. So at the very least, he's consistent," the blonde berzerker leaned back on her elbows on her partners bed, "and now, it looks like Nichol is his newest target."

Oreonna crossed her arms in front of herself with a concerned look, "It sounds like you guys know about this stuff first hand... did this guy ever... y'know, target either of you before?"

Maybelle sighed, her partner was persistent if nothing else, but thankfully Oran took the initiative to answer first, "He tried more than once with me, but I'm the type to laugh that kind of stuff off, in case you hadn't noticed." The hyena boy shrugged, "He never got physical if that's what you mean, but I kinda wish he had, then I would have had an excuse to introduce him to the twins," Oran said, bringing up his robotic fists and kissing each affectionately.

Maybelle hoped that Oreonna was too entranced by Oran's bizarre behavior to notice she hadn't answered the question. Angus had been the source of more than a few stressful days in the cow faunus' life, but he hadn't been alone in that. When May had began her fourth year at Vast, that was when rumors of her "promiscuity" had started spreading like wildfire and everyday at the academy became a trial for the blonde. Angus had been at the front of the line though, and was one of the most vocal of her antagonizers, he also wasn't afraid to say such degrading things to the cow girls face. It wasn't that May couldn't defend herself, it's just Angus chose to fight on a battlefield the blonde had no defense against; a war of words.

In addition to his imposing size and strength, Angus was also smart and manipulative, which was a terrible combination. While Maybelle could easily match him in a fight, when it came to quick thinking, she just lacked that killer instinct. Angus would just grab a posse and start talking down to the cow faunus and Maybelle would have no defense, while the bull faunus just laughed at her trying to come up with a comeback. It was infuriating, thinking about those days. Looking back, May could always think of tons of things to say, but in the moment her mind would always draw a blank as the insults were thrown at her.

It'd been hell, but it had nothing to do with the subject at hand. Unfortunately, the expectant look Oreonna was giving Maybelle meant she was still waiting for a reply from her. "It's not important, we need to focus on what to do with Nichol right now," May said, trying to dodge the issue yet again. From the corner of her eye however, Maybelle could see her cat eared partner giving her a sideways glance, the sudden change in subject apparently not going unnoticed by Oreonna.

The cow girl knew she was going to have to tell Oreonna about what had happened at Vast someday, but now really wasn't the time, though she wondered how long she'd be able to keep using that excuse. Oran knew already... mostly, the brawler and Maybelle hadn't really "hung out" much at their previous school, they'd got along fine, they just existed in different social circles back then. Regardless, the blonde was grateful for the hyena boys discreetness regarding the events, especially when it came to Oreonna finding out. Maybelle wanted to tell her partner everything, but with all that had been going on this first week at Shade, she just hadn't found the right-

No, she could lie to everyone else, but she at least had to be honest with herself; she was afraid. It was clear that in the short time Oreonna had known May that the cat faunus had developed a kind of bond with her, along with the insane notion that her leader was some kind of unstoppable goddess that could do no wrong, or at least that was the vibe May had gotten when she managed to catch a peak at the letter Oreonna was writing to her dad yesterday on her scroll. It was cute that her partner thought so highly of her, and May would be lying if she said there wasn't some small, incredibly vain part of her that enjoyed it, but Maybelle of all people knew she wasn't the kind of person her partner thought she was. That's why the cow girl was so reluctant to tell her the truth, she wanted to be that unwavering, pillar of strength for the cat girl... for as long as she could anyway. May... cared about Oreonna, her partner was an incredibly kind person and was going to be an amazing huntress someday, she could tell. Maybelle hated feeling like she was being deceitful to her, but if she could, she wanted to play the part of the infallible leader for just a little longer.

First though, they had to deal with Angus, "If Angus has his sights set on Nichol, we need to stop him," May said with conviction.

Oreonna nodded in response, "You're right, I might not be Nichol's biggest fan, but if this guy's half as bad as you both say, then we have to do something." Maybelle gave her partner an impressed look. Being willing to help someone you don't necessarily like? That was a big part of being the hunters they were all training to become; someone willing to save others without discrimination.

"Count me in, obviously," Oran chimed in, "I'm never gonna get Nicky to crack a smile with horns for brains pouring gasoline on that grump fire inside her."

"Grump... fire?" Maybelle mumbled in confusion.

"I really don't get what your fascination is with making that sour girl smile," Oreonna interjected. "First of all, I'm pretty sure it's impossible, and if you do manage to do it, I wouldn't rule out the chance of the universe collapsing in on itself as a result of you messing with the laws of reality." Oran smirked a bit at that, while May continued to look on confused as she kept trying to imagine what a "grump fire" would look like. "Secondly, if you want her to smile so bad, why don't you just... I don't know... um..." Oreonna thought for a moment before blurting out the first thing that came to mind, "strap her to a gurney and tickle her until she can't breathe from laughing?"

The other two members of team MOON gave Oreonna a shocked look, as the cat girl realized the implications of what she just suggested. "...Wow... Oreo..." May said with an amused look, "You uh... think about doing that a lot?" she said with a smile as she teased her teammate.

"I-I was just spit-balling!" the now red faced violinist cried out as she turned away from her friends in embarrassment.

"Okay, first off; Damn." Oran said with amusement on his face, "Second; Seriously, damn, Oreonna."

The cat faunus buried her burning face in her hands again, "You're both the worst and I hate you and I'm not even listening anymore," she quickly mumbled out through her fingers.

The orange haired jokester laughed a bit more before continuing, "Thirdly: you can't just force a smile on someones face, it's gotta come naturally," he explained, "It's gotta sneak up on them, like when you've had the worst day ever and you're friend says something so stupid and funny you can't help but bust a gut, and just like that your world feels a little brighter." Maybelle smiled softly at Oran, she could understand where he was coming from with this, and judging by the look on Oreonna's face, now that she had recovered and was back in the conversation, she did too. "I just... Nichol seems like she'd got a lot of bad days behind her, all I wanna do is make one of her future ones a little less... cloudy? I guess?" Oran rubbed the back of his shaggy head sheepishly as he finished, the dorm room settled into silence.

"Wow, Oran," Oreonna was the first to speak up, "that's... actually surprisingly deep for you."

"Pshh, I've always been deep," the hyena faunus said with a toothy smile, "you guys just haven't been paying enough attention."

Oreonna and May shared an eye roll at Oran's expense before the teams leader got to her feet, "Alright, we're all on the same page then, I think the next step should be to let Nichol know that we're gonna help her with this."

"You really expect that conversation to go well?" Oreonna asked doubtfully.

"She doesn't have to want our help, we just have to be willing to offer it," Maybelle retorted as she pulled her scroll out of her pocket. As leader of team MOON, Maybelle had been given all her teammates schedules, mainly so that she could get homework assignments from missed classes, but today it served a secondary purpose; a way of finding out which part of the academy Nichol was in right now. Team MOON had been on their free period for the last hour, the three members present had decided to use this time to discuss the issue at hand, and as usual no one had a clue where Nichol was, but they knew where she would be. "It looks like Nichol will be heading to Advanced Aura Control on the fifth floor next. we should try and catch her before she gets there."

"Aww, yeah," Oran said excitedly, pumping his arms up and down, "Operation 'Stop Nicky from being bullied by the ass-hat Angus that hopefully involves us laying a team MOON flavored beat down on his double cheeseburger with extra ugly face' is a go!... But we might need a better mission name though, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Neither does the abbreviation; SNFBBBTAATHIULATMFBDOHDCWEUF? Meh, maybe we could call it- hey where did you guys go?"

Sure enough, Maybelle and Oreonna had both left the room halfway through Oran's babbling. The hyena faunus sprung up off his bed after them as he resumed thinking out loud about names for team MOON's new operation. Maybelle was feeling like a true leader for the first time since the Blighted Catacombs. Most of her team was aligned in a common goal now, and while she couldn't say for certain that Nichol was going to be thrilled with their meddling, she was sure they were doing the right thing. Or at the very least, it certainly couldn't make things any worse, right?

Maybelle and company headed down the hall and towards the nearby stairwell, sure they could have taken the elevator, but a little extra exercise never hurt anyone. The cow girl felt her apprehension grow as she descended the stairs, she wasn't looking forward to another altercation between herself and Angus, they had not gone in her favor in the past, but it was different now, she had Oran and Oreonna behind her. It was time to prove to her former tormentor that things were going to be different here, she was a leader now and her team was going to be unbreakable after today. Just as May started to feel a new wave of confidence, the team arrived at the fifth floor, they hadn't even gotten out of the stairwell before they started hearing sounds of an argument not far from them.

 _ _Oh no,__ May thought to herself as she broke into a run towards the familiar voices she heard,

"If all you have is more meager insults to throw at me, beast, then go waste someone elses time."

"Easy there, silver fox, me and my friends just want to talk is all."

"I don't have time for this, you and your fellow idiots can either get out of my way, or-"

"Or what, humie? You gonna move all four of us yourself?"

There was no mistaking who's voices these were now. Nichol's aggravated tones were unmistakable and Maybelle felt her skin crawl at the sound of Angus' booming voice. The cow girl slid around the corner, nearly knocking over a pair of students trying to escape the argument taking place in the hall outside the classrooms.

There it was, just the scene Maybelle had been hoping not to come across; Nichol once again cornered by all four members of team ANGS, and in front of her silver haired teammate was the horned leader himself, a satisfied smirk stretched across his face just below the golden ring piercing his nose.

May didn't even hesitate this time, her spirit booming, ready for retribution, "HEY!" she shouted down the hall, getting all five students attention as Oreonna and Oran caught up with her, each of them standing at her side. May didn't want the altercation to become physical, but if it did they would be ready.

Angus was the first to look towards them, his face going from surprise, to agitation, to recognition, to a kind of malicious amusement and May couldn't help but notice that look was just as punchable as it had always been. She lied, she really hoped Angus gave her a reason for this to become physical.

The rest of team ANGS all seemed to notice at the same time, as the three faunus cronies all turned to look at Maybelle as well. The tall, lean one at Angus' side had a pair of pointed wolf ears sticking out of a mess of dark gray hair with a few streaks of black in it. Next to him was a round looking, brown haired boy with matching colored bear ears on his head. The last member had a shaved head and a wiry frame, with small patches of scales all over his face and arms, he glared at team MOON through a pair of yellow, slitted pupils.

Nichol was the last one to notice her teams arrival, as she had to turn a full 180 degrees to face them. Maybelle had a hard time deciphering her silver haired teammates expression. She was so used to Nichol giving her and the other members of team MOON annoyed glares that the face of confusion and surprise staring back at her was unusual to say the least.

"What are-" Nichol started before Angus pushed past her, cutting her off.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," he said as he crossed his muscular arms, "I was wondering if you'd actually show up to defend this little psychopath. It's always a pleasure to see you Maybelle."

May clenched her fist angrily, "Leave her alone," she spoke in a clear, precise voice, as the three newcomers slowly closed the distance between themselves and team ANGS.

The leader of the opposing team chuckled darkly, "Oh yeah? You three gonna make us?"

"Damn right!" Oran said, hands on his hips, a determined look on his face.

Angus didn't even look at the hyena faunus, instead choosing to stay focused on May, "Don't tell me, Daffidys, is this chick-" he said referring to a still confused Nichol, "-part of your new harem here at Shade? Wow, you move fast, gotta say I'm impressed," the belittling bull faunus smiled sickeningly at the blonde, "but I guess some people never change, huh?"

Instantly all the old feelings Maybelle had been trying so desperately to repress from Vast came back. Angus had a way of saying something and getting exactly the response he wanted from his victims, he had them seeing red whenever he saw fit. Maybelle wouldn't be surprised if Angus' semblance was just being able to piss people off, it certainly would explain a lot. It all felt very familiar to the cow girl, just like before, the anger was there, but the words wouldn't come to May. She hated this feeling of helplessness, but what made things even worse was that there was more truth to this insult than she would have liked. In the end, what right did she have to defend herself when she knew exactly what kind of person she really was?

"Shut the hell up!" a voice to Maybelle's left cried out, Oreonna stepping forwards towards Angus, "You don't know a damn thing about the kind of person May is! And we're not just gonna sit by and let you make up lies again just to hurt someone else!"

"Oreonna wait-" May tried to interject, but it was too late.

"What?" Angus said incredulously, his attention now focused solely on the small cat faunus he'd originally paid no mind to before.

Oreonna's resolve wavered a bit under the burly faunus' gaze, "You... you're the one who spread all those rumors about Maybelle at Vast, right?"

Maybelle felt the bottom drop out of her stomach, now she desperately wished she'd taken the time to explain her situation with Angus earlier to Oreonna. She had to say something before-

"Wait, what?"

Too late.

Angus' sneer returned, "Oh, Maybelle, Maybelle, Maybelle, what kind of lies have you been telling your little friend here?"

Oreonna looked from Angus to her partner in confusion. The cow faunus felt her mouth go dry as she tried to speak, "I didn't... Oreonna, I-"

"Let me clear some things up for you, two tones, by the way it takes real talent to be on a team with Oran "No Hands" Bellows and still be the one with the freakiest hair color."

The cat faunus winced slightly at the jab. Next to her Oran stepped forward, "Hey! Don't you dare-"

"Quiet, Bellows! People with hands are talking!" Angus shouted, interrupting Oran's outburst before looking back at Oreonna again, "Can't you see I'm trying to clear my name in the eyes of this clearly very gullible girl?"

A small crowd of students heading to class had started to gather around the eight of them, whispering quietly to each other. Angus seemed to revel in the attention he was receiving as he waved a finger at Maybelle, "Tell us, May, just how many girlfriends did you go though in just that first year at Vast?" The cow faunus felt her throat tighten, she could feel every eye in the hallway on her now, but she didn't answer the question. "Hmm? Don't remember? I understand, it can be hard to keep track once you hit double digits after all," the whispers got louder, Maybelle couldn't believe this was happening to her all over again, and she felt just as powerless as before to stop it.

She knew that any denial she made would only make her look worse, and at the rate Angus was going, he'd just steamroll it anyway. All the bovine faunus could think to do was tighten her fists at her side and clench her teeth in frustration, ride out this storm and hope against hope that her lack of a reaction would be enough to make Angus to think his jabs had no effect and he'd drop this.

However the bull faunus' smile made it clear he wasn't done yet, "You'd think any one of those girls would have had enough of a reason to want to destroy your reputation, but all it took was just one of your little harem to step out of line ever so slightly for you to show your true colors, huh, May?"

"Shut up..." Maybelle managed to croak out. Her hands were shaking now, she couldn't ever remember being this angry before.

Angus wasn't about to stop there though, as he moved in to deliver the final blow, "I mean, I know you like to throw your weight around, assert dominance and all that, but even I think it's going a little far getting another girl expelled-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED!"

May's sudden shout made the hallway go silent. All the whispers stopped as the cow girl bared her teeth at Angus in rage. Every bit of anger and frustration that she'd tried so hard to cover up over the last year exploded out of her in one moment of agony for the tall blonde. At the center of this maelstrom though, was the worst pain of all though; the feeling of a broken heart that had never fully healed.

The now much larger crowd of students all stared in a deadly silence at Maybelle's outburst, even her teammates where shocked. By far the look that hurt the most was the one Oreonna was giving her, the cat faunus was looking at her partner with and expression of sadness and confusion. May didn't blame her, it wasn't Oreonna's fault that her leader had tricked her into thinking she was some great person, some unwavering force for good that wouldn't hurt a fly, but now the truth was out about what Maybelle had done.

The catalyst for all these emotions; Angus, stood proudly in front of May and her friends. He looked ecstatic at the chaos he'd created among the members of team MOON who had only been trying to help their-

"EXCUSE ME!" a voice yelled out causing everyone to whip their heads around to the source as Nichol pushed her way past Angus, barely giving the giant bull faunus a look as she approached her team. The tall teenager sneered at the small silver haired girl as she passed, annoyed at being ignored.

"Will one of you explain to me what the hell is going on?! Why are you three here!? This didn't involve you!" the rest of team MOON looked at each other in confusion as Nichol seemed more angered by their presence than she was at team ANGS, a fact the other team seemed put off by.

May had to admit she was ashamed to have forgotten all about the actual reason they'd come to confront Angus and company in the first place. The cow girl reeled in her temper to explain what she thought should have been obvious at this point, "We heard Angus and his team were giving you trouble, so... we wanted to try and help," __and look how well it's going,__ the cow faunus thought to herself. Maybe they should have come up with more of a plan than 'Run headfirst at the problem', but as they say; hindsight is twenty-twenty.

Nichols look of confusion only got more prominent as she looked genuinely bewildered as to why her teammates would do this. Why?" she asked.

Again, May was stunned by the girls response, "Because... I know you don't exactly like us, but we're still your friends, Nichol."

Shock exploded onto Nichols face, then an unreadable expression took over, "I.. you think..." Nichol stammered, before her face became deadly serious.

The silver haired girl turned in place and faced Angus, she began walking straight up to the bull faunus without uttering a sound. The horned boy let out a snort of a laugh as the much shorter girl approached, "What? Got something to say to me, sweetie?" Nichol just kept walking, stopping only when she was standing close to Angus, she stared up at him with a deep scowl on her face. The giant of a faunus looked down his pierced nose at the puny excuse for a human before him, "Oh, maybe you wanna kiss and make up? Sorry, but you're not really my-"

Angus' eyes went wide as Nichols hand shot up towards his face, gripping his golden nose ring tightly with her thumb and pointer finger.

Then, the smaller girl pulled, hard.

There was a disturbing ripping sound, almost a short "pop" before Angus started screaming in pain, blood pouring out of his nose as he tried to stop the flow with his hands. Everyone in attendance watched in horror while Nichol stood there, glaring at Angus as he howled in agony while the silver haired girl twirled the faunus' bloody nose ring on her finger.

The bull horned huntsman looked out past his red covered fingertips with murderous intent in his eyes, "Human bitch!" he yelled as he lunged forward with his arms outstretched to grab the girl in front of him.

Nichol didn't even blink as she swept in, grabbing her opponent by the large horns on his head. Angus was able to let out a grunt of surprise before the silver haired girl pulled herself upwards and slammed her knee into the bull faunus' temple.

Everyone's jaws dropped as the formerly intimidating teenager's head snapped back from the force and his body toppled onto the ground, breathing, but very much unconscious as blood continued to pour out of his nose. Angus hadn't even had time to activate his aura before he'd been soundly defeated by a girl that was about half his size.

Maybelle just stood with the rest of the students, in awe and terror at what she'd just witnessed. The ease and viscosity with which Nichol had dealt with Angus was almost haunting, like the orange eyed girl had done it a million times before...

"You three," Nichol said, referring to the other members of team ANGS, "When he regains consciousness, tell him I never want to see his repulsive face again, and if I do, he won't be waking up next time."

The other three faunus were practically shaking in fear at the coldness of Nichols voice as they scooped up their leader, struggling under his intense weight. Angus let out a low gurgle as he was moved, indicating that he was in fact still alive. The students surrounding the action all began to step away too, a few even running, hopefully to finally go inform a faculty member about what had just transpired. Team MOON remained in the hallway, Maybelle, Oran, and Oreonna staring at their teammate as she appeared to take a deep, calming breath with her eyes closed.

Then she opened them, orbs of orange fire burning a hole right through Maybelle, "You." Nichol spat, with a look that made every glare her team had ever received look meek by comparison, this was pure rage. Maybelle had to resist the urge to take a step back as the silver haired girl stormed right up to her and pointed her finger right at the tall cow girls chest, "Let me make this perfectly clear," Nichol said through clenched teeth, "I don't want your help, I don't want you friendship, and I damn sure don't want your pity!"

Maybelle stood her ground as best she could as Nichol lowered her hand and walked past her, shoving May slightly as she went by her leader. The blonde watched as her angry teammate passed Oreonna, who looked too shocked for words, without even a glance.

Then, as Nichol passed Oran, May saw a smirk appear on the faunus boys face, and before anyone could stop him, the orange haired jokester did what he did best, "Wow, talk about taking the bull by the horns, eh, Nicky?"

As usual, it seemed like Oran's heart was in the right place, but his disregard for the seriousness of the situation was baffling. This was just who Oran was though, he made jokes to lighten the mood, but sometimes in the end he was the only one laughing.

The faunus boy probably would have laughed this time too, if Nichol's fist hadn't slammed into his jaw.

Oran was completely caught off guard as he stumbled back, colliding with the wall behind him and sliding to the floor. The faunus boy brought a hand to his face and stared up at Nichol with a look no one had seen from him before; a look of hurt. Nichol seemed frozen after the hit, even she looked shocked at what she'd done, her face betraying her own new emotion; regret.

"What the hell is your problem!?" Oreonna shouted as she started stomping towards Nichol with her hands balled into fists.

She was stopped when Maybelle wrapped an arm around her waist, the leader remembering her bat faunus professor's words about fighting among teammates. She'd clearly failed at that already today, but at the very least she could keep it from getting any worse.

Oreonna struggled vehemently in May's iron grip as the cat faunus continued shouting at Nichol, "We came here to help you! And this is how you repay us!?" Nichol still wasn't looking at Oreonna, she was transfixed on Oran who stared back, rubbing the side of his face that'd been struck. "You refuse to be a part of this team, you cost us our match yesterday, now you outright attack your own partner!?" The cat faunus kept on her tirade, now having given up on escaping May's clutches, "You have the nerve to call us 'Grimmspawn', but you're the only monster here!"

Those words were the ones that seemed to break Nichol out of her trance, she looked up at Oreonna and Maybelle, then back down at Oran, who'd broken eye contact with his partner. Finally, the silver haired girl looked at her hands, Angus' blood still covering her fingers and palms. Nichol's expression was unreadable as she opened and closed her mouth several times as if she was trying to find the right words.

"I-"

"Nichol Cuillere, report to the headmistress's office, immediately."

A voice shouted over the intercoms, cutting off Nichol. Had Miss Evergreen found out about what had happened so quickly? It wasn't the most farfetched possibility, even Maybelle had begun to see that the headmistress seemed to have an almost uncanny awareness of what was going on at all times in the giant tree that made up Shade Academy.

As the announcement went off, May noticed a brief look of horror flash across Nichols face, before it disappeared and was replaced by a blank, neutral expression. If Maybelle had to compare the look to anything, it'd be that of a prisoner that had just been called up for their execution, it was a look of grim acceptance. Nichol gave her teammates one final look, before her expression hardened and she turned and walked off down the hallway to her fate.

May's arms went slack and Oreonna was able to squeeze out and immediately ran to Oran's side. The hyena faunus had stopped rubbing the place he'd been struck, a red mark settling into that side of his face. He hadn't made an effort to stand, he was just sitting there, looking downward at his feet in front of him, a sad look in his green eyes. Oran seemed completely unaware that Oreonna was even there at all as the cat faunus fussed over him.

All Maybelle could do was stand there, wondering how things could have possibly ended up this bad. She'd just wanted to help, to keep Angus form making someone's life as miserable as the bull faunus had made hers.

She'd... just wanted to bring her team together, but as the cow girl stood there, one thing became clear; right now, team MOON was shattered.

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 _ **A/N- "That seems like a good place to end it," he said, acutely aware about the growing mob outside his house, pitchforks in hand. I'm only one chapter** **ahead of this now, but I have a rough draft of everything to the end of this arc done, so hopefully the next chapter will be done swiftly!**_

 _ **But... I mean... maybe it you leave a review or something... it might uh... make my fingers work a li'l bit faster? No pressure or anything, I just love hearing from you guys.**_


	14. Wounded

**_A/N-OH SHIT! Guess who's back? Sorry for the long break, but I suppose a lot of you might be used to it by now... hopefully some of you stuck around for this. Anyway, see you at the end!  
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 **Chapter 14- Wounded**

 _This was a stupid idea from the start._

 _It was never going to work out._

 _What were you thinking when you decided to come here?_

All these thoughts and more were going through the head of Nichol Cuillere as she made her way down the hallways of Shade Academy. The entire event that had just transpired was replaying through her head as she walked to meet her fate at the hands of the academies headmistress. The silver haired girl remembered Eden's words from their last meeting, about how their would be consequences should she ever assault a fellow student.

 _"When I say that, know I'm not simply referring to expulsion."_

The memory of the deer faunus' words played again in Nichol's head and she felt her stomach twist. It had been a simple request, and one Nichol had intended to follow... in her own way. After all, you can hardly have an issue with your teammates if you never interact with them. So she decided to avoid Maybelle, Oran, and Oreonna as much as she could, even going so far as to sleep on a couch in the student lounge every night instead of her teams dorm. It wasn't a comfortable arrangement, but it was a small price to pay for the training and knowledge Nichol could acquire from some of the most renowned Huntsmen and Huntresses on Remnant. That training would go a long way towards Nichol achieving her ultimate goal of killing the man that had destroyed her life.

It had been a fine plan, where had it gone wrong?

 _Angus._

That insufferable Grimm-... person had decided to make it his personal mission to provoke Nichol every chance he'd had. At first, she'd been able to endure, a few snide comments about her appearance were hardly an issue to Nichol, but eventually it started to pile up. Day after day of psychological abuse had the silver haired girl straining to resist a physical altercation, every moment in the bull faunus' company was a test of her patience.

What had she even done to deserve such treatment? Because she was human? What right did he have to persecute her just because she was-

Nichol stopped that train of thought as she realized just how hypocritical it was.

Then her mind drifted back to Oran, holding the side of his face she'd struck, staring up at her, his expression a mixture of shock and sadness. She didn't... she hadn't meant to hit him, but her teammates had no right to be there! And she'd just been so angry and-

... And that was the real problem, wasn't it? Nichol was always angry. Angry at a race that hadn't even really done anything to her to deserve it, angry at her own people for the atrocities they'd committed, but mostly angry at herself for her own part in those crimes.

She'd wanted to be better, that's one of the reasons Nichol had chosen Shade over a long list of other combat schools she could have sneaked into. That, and who would think to look for a former member of an anti-faunus militia in a kingdom where the ratio of faunus to human was at least three to one? It'd be like looking for a shark in a school of tuna. But the kind of hate towards faunus that had been bred into Nichol didn't die easily, years and years of being taught that a race of people are untrustworthy, evil, and just generally unworthy of life made it hard to see the world any other way. It had taken years, but eventually Nichol had seen the truth, or at least gotten enough of a glimpse at it to realize the lies she'd been told, but it turned out just realizing it wasn't enough, and so the silver haired girl was left with massive chip on her shoulder in regards to the race of non humans.

Nichol thought back to what Oreonna had shouted at her, about how she was the real monster, and honesty the silver haired warrior had a hard time arguing against that point.

Nichol finally arrived at the elevators, there were three of them, side by side, cut into the wood of the giant tree. The ones on the left and right went to most floors in the academy, but the center one was the only way to access the top floor, as well as the headmistress's office.

The orange eyed girl stood outside the elevator with her arms crossed, not pressing the button to call the transportation system just yet. She just stared at the closed doors with disdain, and maybe a little worry. Why was she even doing this? Why even go the Eden's office if she was just going to expel her anyway? Why let the headmistress toy with her like this? What was to stop Nichol from just walking out the door and never looking back? She could just live out the rest of her miserable life under whatever rock was available, where no one would find her... and where she wouldn't hurt anyone else. That was the logical thing to do at this point, to not give the faunus headmistress the satisfaction of throwing her out, but at the same time, Nichol just couldn't will herself to do that.

That would mean giving up, she'd been letting **Sterling** win, and allow his -as well as the rest of the Hand of Humanities- reign of terror to continue unabated. No, she couldn't allow that man get away with what he'd done, not without at least seeing things through here to the end, she owed it to her mother to give it her best shot.

Plus, even if Nichol would never admit it, there was a part of her that hoped against hope that maybe she wasn't about to get expelled, that there might still be a chance for this basket she'd essentially put all her eggs into, but most of her knew better. Regardless of what fate awaited her at the top of Shade's massive oak tree, Nichol had decided to face it. So, her confidence restored, the silver haired spear wielder finally reached up towards the elevators buttons, but suddenly there was a "ding" and the doors opened on their own. Nichol took a step back in surprise as the tall, dark figure of Professor Neight stepped briskly out of the elevator.

"Ahh, Miss Cuillere, how are you this fine evening?" the faunus said with a small -yet still eccentric- bow of his head.

The bat teachers friendly smile and greeting was putting Nichol on edge, "I'm-"

"On your way to see Miss Evergreen, yes?" Neight interrupted as he tucked his hands behind his back, his red eyes twinkling in amusement as Nichol stared back blankly. "Well, I know Madame hates to be kept waiting, and as for me, I have my own... mission to attend to at the moment, so I shan't delay you any longer. Good day, Miss Cuillere." With another quick bow, Professor Neight turned and headed down the hall.

Nichol raised an eyebrow at the strange faunus' mannerisms before turning to face the empty elevator and found the surprise encounter had shattered whatever confidence she'd managed to build up. Was she ready for this? To face the headmistress after what she'd done? The silver haired girl was not a fan of uncertainty, she either did things or she did not, second guessing herself was a waste of time, but at that moment, when she thought about what was waiting for her, Nichol hesitated.

Elevators wait for no man -or woman- unfortunately, and as the doors started to close, Nichols feet took on a life of there own as the silver haired huntress awkwardly hustled in as the elevator shut. For a moment, the short cape covering her arm was caught in the door and a flustered Nichol quickly yanked it free. Once inside, the silverette took a moment to compose herself as she traveled upwards, she... really hoped no one had seen that just now. The mental image of anyone having witnessed her awkward fumbling was humiliating to the stoic girl.

The elevator whirred slightly as it went up, the long trip didn't help to alleviate the growing unease in Nichol. The silver haired girl reached up and ran her fingers up and down the braid on the left side of her head, an anxious tic Nichol had developed over the years that she hated, but she was out of view of anyone else and the familiar action did help calm her a little.

Much too quickly for her liking, Nichol found herself at the top floor of Shade. The elevator doors whooshed open revealing the entryway to the office of the academies headmistress, Eden Evergreen. The deer faunus' door was open revealing Eden sitting at her giant, tree stump shaped desk typing at a keyboard, a holographic monitor in front of her. The faunus looked up at Nichol and her brow furrowed, the orange eyed girl wasn't too keen on leaving the relative safety of the elevator after that.

Nichol would never admit to being afraid of a faunus, but... no, no she was definitely afraid of Miss Evergreen. Memories of the last meeting that Nichol had with the headmistress flashed through the young huntresses mind. Her orange eyes scanned the rooms perimeter for the roots that had nearly decapitated her last time, but the area seemed safe, in fact, the whole office had a different look from when Nichol had been there that night.

The large windows behind Eden's desk weren't darkened for starters, not only letting the warm sunlight into the office, but also it revealed a breathtaking view that even Nichol had to recognize as spectacular. The desert's of Vacuo took up most of the view, the golden dunes rising and falling over the landscape, but their was also several small oasis' sprinkled in the distance adding a touch of life to the barren land. The vibrant green leaves of the oak tree that made up Shade Academy could also be seen framing the edges of the window just out of the way, as if they'd been trimmed purposely to allow the view. Finally, on the horizon, you could just make out Vacuo's capital city of Mirage, the small bit of civilization appearing even smaller from this vantage point. All of these features were accentuated under the dimming light of the sun setting over the continent.

"Miss Cuillere." Eden's voice snapped Nichol out of her gawking, the faunus headmistress slid her keyboard to the side and rested her hands on the desk in front of her. "Please, come in, have a seat," she said gesturing to the small wooden chair on the other side of her desk.

"I'll stand," Nichol replied as she slowly and cautiously made her way into the office proper. She saw no need to get comfortable, especially if this meeting was going to go the way she expected it to.

"Very well, suit yourself," the antlered professor said, offering a small shrug before her expression turned serious. "You know why I called you here, yes?"

Nichol's heart sank just a little as she felt her fate was sealed at that moment. "I do," was all she could think to say in response. If Eden expected her to beg then she would be sorely disappointed. Nichol knew what she'd done, there was no point in dragging this situation out with pointless denials.

"I believe we had an agreement on what would happen if you were to attack one of your fellow students," Eden said in a stern voice. "You understand the seriousness of your actions, do you not?"

"I do," Nichol repeated solemnly.

Both teacher and student went silent for a bit before Eden spoke again, "Then tell me; do you regret what you did to your teammate?" The unexpected line of questioning made Nichol pause, she gave the headmistress a confused look, but did not answer. "I believe that's a rather simple question, Miss Cuillere: Do you regret lashing out at Oran Bellows like you did?"

The silver haired huntress in training had a lost look on her face for a moment before attempting to speak, "I... I don't understand," she said as Eden continued to wait for a response, "am I being expelled or not?"

The headmistress placed an elbow on her desk then rested her head on her raised palm in a relaxed position, "Let's just say I haven't decided yet, now can you please answer my question?"

Nichol's mind fumbled at the still unanswered query, "I..."

"Let me ask you an easier question then;" Eden interrupted as she stood, but it wasn't like Nichol had come up with anything to say anyway, "Why do you hate my kind?

Nichol still had a bewildered look on her face. This question was easier for her, granted, but she was sure the headmistress wouldn't like the answer that came to her. The truth was... complicated, and she doubted Miss Evergreen would understand her situation, she barely understood it herself if she was honest, but Nichol knew that lying now under the headmistress's heavy gaze was not an option.

"I... don't," the silver haired girl started, Eden raised an eyebrow at this, "or at least... I don't exclusively." Nichol let out a sigh, that did very little to alleviate the stress she was under, before elaborating on her statement, "Faunus are cruel, heartless, conniving creatures; that was what I was taught every day since I was born," Nichol looked downward as a darker look went across her face, "but as I grew older I learned that humans have the capacity to be just as perverse." The girl scowled as she clenched her fists at the memories surfacing before relaxing her grip and posture, "Truthfully, what I did had nothing to do with anyone's race, and it's quite likely that such an incident would have occurred even if I'd been placed on a team consisting of all humans. My... teammates being members of the race I was bred to hate merely... expedited things, I suppose."

Nichol really didn't know where these revelations were coming from, the words were almost pouring out of her now. No one had ever really asked her "why?" before, and she was as surprised as Eden with the answers that were springing forth. Make no mistake, Nichol did not "like" the other members of team MOON, and she was fairly certain that by now they hated her as well.

Maybelle was... not a completely incompetent leader, she'd proven she was physically adept and resourceful in battle, but she lacked the kind of conviction required for leadership and that made it impossible for Nichol to follow her. Then there was the ice incident during the team exam against NDGO, that surely hadn't endeared Nichol to Maybelle.

Any chance at an amicable relationship with Oreonna had been dashed after Nichols slip of the tongue on the first day at Shade, a word like Grimmspawn carried a lot of malice behind it after all. It may have been an accident, but that didn't change what she'd said, and the cat girl certainly didn't seem eager to forget. Oreonna appeared shy at first, but she also seemed to be a bit of a hot head at times, then again, so was Nichol, and that alone made it unlikely the two would ever see eye to eye.

Then there was Oran, her partner, and the one she'd laid out with a punch earlier in her enraged state. Gods, she'd never met a more irritating example of his kind in all her life. The jokes, the cocky attitude, the fact that he seemed so insistent on calling Nichol "Nicky" despite her constant reminders not to, it was infuriating. The familiar nickname brought the silverette nothing but grief, she hadn't been "Nicky" in a long time... and Nichol was content to keep it that way. The silver haired warrior had no idea why Oran was so focused on her, much like with Angus, the orange haired nuisance seemed solely invested in annoying her, but the attention she received from Oran was different from the type she'd received from the bull faunus. He was always trying to get a reaction from her, saying the most idiotic things and then watching her patiently afterwards, almost judging her expressions. It was infuriating... or at the very least, Nichol found the infatuation... confusing.

In the end, it didn't matter the reasons Nichol didn't get along with her teammates, they weren't the problem really, she was. Clearly Nichol had underestimated her own ability to coexist with faunus -or even people in general- after the upbringing she'd had.

And with that, Nichol spoke the deflating truth she'd just realized, "Maybe... maybe it would be for the best for me to leave..." It was the easiest solution to her, she was poison to anyone she met now, too broken to be fixed and too proud to accept anyone's help. There was no place for someone like her here at Shade Academy, and that revelation hurt more than anything.

Eden looked at Nichol sadly, "Miss Cuillere-"

"Why do you keep calling me that!?" Nichol asked, her voice taking on a bit more sharpness than before. "You know my real last name, so why bother going along with this ridiculous charade I've created? Or do you just intend to toy with me some more?"

The faunus had no reaction to the teenagers outburst, she simply clasped her hands and placed them on her desk and sighed quietly. "I will call you by the name on your transcript, as falsified as it may be. Also I get the impression that the last name 'Acier' is a source of great pain and anger for you, and that you didn't merely try to hide it out of fear of being exposed, so I assumed you'd rather not hear it."

Nichol huffed angrily as she crossed her arms, this woman was a little too adept at reading her, but she had to admit her headmistress was dead on in that assumption. However the silver haired girl wasn't about to divulge any information on the subject to Eden, her secrets were her own to bare. Besides, it wasn't like just talking about her problems would solve anything.

"You seem to believe that my only intention in letting you stay here at Shade was to watch you squirm, and perhaps that's my fault," guilt flashed a cross Eden's face as she looked away from Nichol for a moment. "The last time we spoke in private my mood was already rather sour, and I was under the impression you were a threat to this school, a place that has been my home for many years, so I hope you can forgive my aggression. However I believe I may have acted rashly and that I was mistaken in my assumption of what you are."

Nichol looked puzzled at this confession, "And what exactly do you think I am?"

"I still don't know, but there was something familiar about your face from the moment I saw you, I was sure I'd met you before." Eden smiled in amusement as she leaned back in her chair, "I must admit, it took quite some time to remember where I'd seen a face like that before, but I believe I've finally cracked the case, as it were." The deer faunus reached towards the holographic display projecting out of her desk and with a swipe she turned it around to show Nichol what was on it.

When the silver haired girl saw the picture, it felt like a knife had been plunged into her chest.

"Ten years ago, this woman appeared on my schools doorstep, requesting an audience with me," Eden explained. Said woman was wearing shining silver armor with a golden crest on the breastplate depicting a five fingered hand with an 'X' across the palm. Nichol knew that symbol, as well as the woman bearing it, every feature on her face had been ingrained into the young girls memory. The picture quality wasn't outstanding, most likely a security monitor, one in this very office it seemed, as the woman stood more of less in the same spot Nichol was standing now. Her pale skin, her long ash colored hair tied in a long braid going down her back, a golden tiara in front, all that was missing was the double edged spear Nichol always remembered her carrying.

 _... Mom?..._

Nichol felt repressed emotions threatening to overwhelm her, she hadn't seen a picture of her mother in years for exactly this reason, the pain erupting in her chest was extraordinary.

"I'll never forget the day this woman came to my school," Eden continued, but Nichol was barely able to focus now, she wanted to look away from the photo but she just couldn't pry her eyes away from her mothers face, but one thing the headmistress said did sink in; her mother had come here? But why? "As soon as I saw the emblem on her chest I assumed the worst, but I still summoned her to my office, ready to fight for my life. After all, who would expect the Hand of Humanities leader to show up on their doorstep?" The antlered faunus stepped around her desk, "Imagine my surprise when she came not only alone, but unarmed, and perhaps most surprising of all; she claimed to be here to negotiate peace."

Nichol's eyes went wide, "I don't mean to boast, but aside from the chieftain and his family on Menagerie, and perhaps the leaders of that dreadful White Fang organization, I am considered by many to be the most influential representative of my kind, though that may have a more to do with my position as headmistress here. In a way, I suppose it made sense for the Hand's leader to come to me to talk about such things, but I was understandably skeptical. However, I granted her an audience regardless, I had a school full of huntsmen and huntresses that would ensure she'd never leave alive if she tried anything." Eden stopped and leaned against the front of her desk, her emerald eyes still focusing on the image on the screen, a wistful look on her face. "I've never met another human quite like her," Eden turned her head and looked to Nichol, "it's quite a resemblance I must say."

The silver haired teen clutched her fists and grinded her teeth together, but it wasn't out of anger this time, Nichol was in agony. Her insides were in knots, her head throbbed, her throat was tightening. She didn't want to talk about this, but there seemed to be no escape.

"Unfortunately, I never saw this woman again. She did give me a name before she departed though; Noire."

Nichol was barely holding it together at this point. Raw, repressed pain shot through her, and yet she continued her rebellion against the unwanted emotions as she tried her best to remain steadfast. However the token resistance was akin to a beavers damn against a flow of lava.

"I won't ask you who this woman was to you, but I must know; is she-"

"She'd dead," Nichol spat, her voice cracking slightly as her eyes started welling up, the teenager looked away, her face a mask of anger hiding the sadness her voice betrayed. 'Dead' wasn't even the proper word for what had happened, Nichol knew the truth, her mother had been murdered in cold blood by the most evil man she'd ever known. But she didn't elaborate on the point, she didn't trust herself to speak again without completely breaking down in front of the headmistress.

"I see... that is a shame," Eden gave the girl a look of genuine sympathy that Nichol didn't know how to process right now. "Like I said, I've never met another human quite like her," a gentle smile spread across the faunus' face, "Well, until you, that is." Nichol barely had the strength to react anymore, so she merely raised an eyebrow at the headmistress, "Your stride, the purpose you carry yourself with, but mostly it's your eyes, that look you share. It's the look of someone who's seen horrible things, a darkness that would devour a weaker soul. But I also see the same spark of resistance in them, a strength that won't allow itself to be swallowed by that darkness."

Nichol's eyes were still glassy as she looked up at the headmistress, she so badly wanted to say she was right, but she knew better. "You're wrong about me," the silver haired girl said despairingly, "I'm nothing like her, I'm not strong like she was..."

Eden stood up straight, "Well, I believe that remains to be seen, but I have to ask, do you share the ideals of peace that Noire did? Do you believe there is even the slightest chance for our races to live as equals?"

Nichol gave the faunus a confused look, where was Eden going with this? What information was this woman trying to fish out of her? "Why are you asking me this?" she asked as she tried to re-stabilize the emotional walls she'd put up over the years.

Miss Evergreen sighed, "I told you, my intention in allowing you to stay wasn't to torture you. I see the same potential in you as I have in many of the other students I've taught over the years. Not only that, but I think this is a rare opportunity for someone in your position to learn a lesson about how the world truly works, and I've found the lessons passed on here at this school have the potential to have more of an impact on the world than anything I alone can do in my life."

Nichol was baffled by the faunus' words. She came to this school to become stronger, there was no greater calling in her life anymore according to Nichol. "So am I expelled or not?" she said impatiently. Nichol wasn't sure why the headmistress had decided to turn a two minute conversation into a lecture.

Eden narrowed her eyes at the student in front of her, before walking back around her desk and taking her seat behind it. "That's not up to me," Eden said, hands clasped in front of her, "You assaulted one of your own teammates, someone who you must trust with your life if you are to survive, I think it's only fair that he decide your fate."

Oran? The headmistress was leaving Nichol's fate in the hands of that buffoon?

"You will apologize to Mr. Bellows and if he forgives you, then so do I."

Nichol had to suppress an eye roll. She might as well have just expelled her on the spot. There was no way Oran would just forgive her for the (mostly) unprovoked assault. If Eden was trying to prove to Nichol that she wasn't just toying with her, she was failing miserably.

"I can tell by the look on her face that you believe I've only prolonged the inevitable," Apparently Nichol hadn't resisted the eye roll as well as she'd hoped, "but I believe that you might just be surprised what happens if you try."

Nichol gave the headmistress an incredulous look, it was completely preposterous to think that her teammates would ever accept her after her outburst. Nichol had been on thin ice to begin with, there was no way they'd just forgive her, especially after seeing what the silver haired girl had done to- wait.

"What about what happened with Angus?" Nichol asked.

Eden snapped her fingers, "Ah yes, thank you for reminding me. You will serve detention for the next three weeks, as well as... let's say... a hand written apology to Mr. Carne." Nichol gave the headmistress a deadpan expression, "You see, I am well aware of Mr. Carne's... viewpoints on humanity, and unfortunately you are not the first victim of his unjustified campaign." Eden sighed, "It appears you were correct about both our kinds being capable of acting out in anger, not that I ever had any doubts to begin with."

Ultimately Nichol didn't really care, she'd only asked about Angus out of morbid curiosity. Besides, it wasn't like she'd even still be at the school to serve any punishment anyway, she was still sure there was no way her partner would accept any kind of apology from her.

"However, as lenient as I am being now, know that this is your final chance, Miss Cuillere. I may be kindhearted, but you'll find that only goes so far, so I expect you to be a your best behavior from now on." Eden lost all semblance of joking as her face turned deadly serious, "Future acts like this will **_not_** be tolerated." the headmistress's expression shifted back to her typical soft smile, "That will be all, Miss Cuillere, you may go. I believe you need to have a chat with your teammate now." Nichol gave the faunus one final quizzical look, before re-entering the elevator behind her and with a whoosh the doors shut as she began her decent down the tower.

Once she was gone, Eden let out a short, quiet laugh before pulling out her scroll and putting it on her desk. The technology in the log shaped table connected to the device and a small window popped up as Eden sent out a call to Professor Neight. After a moment, the bat faunus answered, "Good evening, Madame," his voice was coming through clearly on the desks speakers.

"Hello, Adrian, I was just curious about how your assignment went," Eden said with a sly smirk.

On the other side of the line, Neight chuckled, "Well, I don't like to toot my own horn, as it were, but I dare say it went quite well, Madame Evergreen."

"Excellent."

"If you don't mind me asking ma'am; it's not like you to go to such lengths for a team of freshmen hunters, any particular reasoning behind this?"

Eden stood from her desk and turned to her giant windows, watching as the sun set over Vacuo, "No real reason, I suppose. A lesson needed to be taught and that is our job as teachers at this academy, after all. But not all lessons can be simply taught or told, the ones that truly matter, they must be experienced firsthand."

* * *

Thirty minutes earlier, Maybelle was standing out on one of the many balconies of Shade Academy, overlooking the golden sands as the sun hung low in the sky over Vacuo.

The cow faunus rested her forearms on the railing, looking over the edge to the ground below. She was on the fifteenth floor of the school, and while many people would have a sense of vertigo from the height, Maybelle never experienced such a feeling, her semblance eliminating any fear of heights pretty quickly after she'd unlocked it. If she wanted, she could easily hop the barricade right now and land soft as a feather on the ground... for the most part. Her semblance took a lot of concentration, and maintaining a near weightlessness as she fell got more difficult as the decent continued. The highest she'd ever fallen was about eighty stories and even then she'd left a small crater at the impact, even when the cow faunus had been trying to land as softly as possible. Thankfully she'd been no worse for wear, what with aura and all. One could go as far as to say that May enjoyed heights, she wasn't an adrenaline junky or anything, but looking down over the steep ledge just gave the cow girl a feeling of levity, something she felt like she sorely needed after today.

Maybelle frowned as she slouched forward onto the sturdy railing, what a disaster today had turned into. Oran had waved off any suggestions that he should see the nurse after getting laid out by Nichol, the hyena faunus had just kind of wandered off, rubbing his swelling jaw. Oreonna had barely said a word as well, walking away muttering something about getting to class on time, Maybelle had been too distraught to hear. Nichol was... who knows where, but honestly, Maybelle wasn't really looking forward to seeing her again anyway. May had been the last to leave the scene, she mindlessly wandered the halls of Shade for a while until she stumbled upon this spot and just kind of settled into place. So now here she was, the bell signifying the start of the next class had rang out about ten minutes ago.

 _Look at you, cutting class just like the old days. Guess Angus was right about you not changing._

The cow faunus' frown deepened, her thoughts weren't being very constructive as she tried to think of just how she was going to fix things with her team. Try as she might, Maybelle just couldn't get what Angus said out of her head. He was a jerk, a bully, a poor excuse for a person, and worst of all; completely right about her. She'd done a terrible thing, been a horrible person and now she was paying the price for it. The cow faunus had hoped things at Shade would be different from Vast, and for that first week, things had been good, shaky, but good. Now, her team was fractured, Oreonna would probably never speak to her again, and no doubt Angus would be eager to start spreading those horrible rumors from back at Vast once he recovered, and to top it all off; she still had no idea what she was going to do about Nichol.

"What a mess..." May said to herself as she stared vacantly out at the skyline before her.

"Oh I don't know," a voice behind Maybelle almost had the cow girl leaping off the balcony in surprise, she turned to see Professor Neight standing there. "I've always found the view quite relaxing myself," he said, hands clasped behind his back and a sly smile on his face. Noticing the cow girls distress upon his intrusion, Neight offered a bow as he always did, "Forgive me, Miss Daffidys, I hadn't meant to intrude. I'm simply not used to finding anyone at this particular balcony at this time of day."

May pushed herself up off the railing, "Oh, sorry, did you want me to go?" she asked.

As the cow faunus went to leave, her professor held up a hand signaling her to stop, "Heavens no, my dear girl. As I was saying, I've always found this balcony to offer the most spectacular of views, if you need to clear your head you'll hardly find a better place in all of Shade." Neight took up a spot next to May, "That is, as long as you don't mind me, as the kids say, 'cramping your style'."

Maybelle gave the bat faunus a strange look, she didn't necessarily mind the company, it's just... okay, if she was being honest, Professor Neight creeped her out a little. "It's fine, I was just leaving actu-"

"You know, it's evenings like this that remind me of when I first came to this school," May stood awkwardly, looking from the exit and back to her professor who was already lost in memories staring into the distance. Maybelle sighed silently to herself and settled back into place on the railings edge. She didn't want to add being rude to a faculty member to her list of offenses that day. "I was born in the mountains to the southeast, in a small cave community called Calsite. Not the most thrilling place to grow up, but it suited my family just fine. Me, however, I wanted more..." May settled in, it looked like she was going to be here a while. "I was, believe it or not, quite the rapscallion back in my day, and once I was old enough I decided it would be a smart idea to leave home and throw in with the local bandit gang, all just to escape the monotony of my hometown," This got May's attention, she really couldn't see the straight laced, overly formal professor as a common thug.

"It wasn't an... ideal lifestyle choice looking back, I brought pain to many who didn't deserve it. I pillaged Vacuo for years with my new 'family', I was taught no good came from mercy, and pity was a waste to give and an insult to receive. I dare say I didn't know a single day of kindness back then. Much like the desert herself, my 'family' was harsh, cruel, and often unforgiving," the bat professor grimaced a moment as he began fiddling with the glove on his right hand. Then, Neight's expression perked up, "but then I was greeted with the most fortunate thing to ever happen to me."

"What's that?" Maybelle asked, now fully engrossed in this tale.

"I was stabbed!"

The cow girls mouth went agape, as Neight smiled in that unsettling way that he apparently thought was comforting. "That is a popular reaction to that part of my story, but perhaps it was more what happened after my injury that was truly fortuitous." Neight cleared his throat before continuing, "It happened when we were raiding a caravan traveling across the desert, one of the guards got a lucky hit in. It was a most dreadful wound to be certain, so much so that I'm afraid my colleagues at the time felt I would be too much of a drain on their resources to bother taking back to the camp for treatment. So they saw fit to leave me to die. Charming chaps, they were."

"What happened?" May said, her brown eyes wide and shining with interest now.

Neight smirked a bit as he went on, "Well as much as leaving my mark in the world as a sun bleached skeleton seemed lovely, I started wandering the wastes of Vacuo. I patched the wound as best I could, but without proper medical care my prognosis looked grim." Neight looked upwards at the great treetops over Shade Academy, "But you'll never guess what I saw on the horizon that gave me the strength to press on." The huntsman walked over and placed a hand on the bark of the oak, "I dragged myself towards that bizarre looking landmark, collapsing as soon as I set foot on the campus grounds. That's were Madame Evergreen found me, barely alive, nearly dehydrated, and without a friend in the world."

"So that's when you became a teacher here?" May asked.

"Oh no no no no no, my dear, that was still quite a few years off. I'm afraid my story merely begins with my unceremonious arrival here at Shade," the bat faunus folded his arms behind his back again, "and I'm afraid I was a... less than grateful house guest upon regaining consciousness. My time amongst the ne'er-do-well's I had been with had left me with a rather cold disposition when it came to receiving help, but Madame would hear none of it, and I was far to weak and hurt to offer much resistance to her care. She gave me food, water, even a place to rest whilst I regained my strength, and in return I was rude, arrogant, and more often than not, completely ungrateful for the help. I truly believed I didn't need anyone, I was taught that such charity was a sign of weakness. If I was to survive, I was convinced I had to do it on my own or not at all, but Madame showed me I was wrong." Neight smile softened and, much to Maybelle's relief, looked a lot more natural and calming.

"I wasn't always kind, patient, or gratuitous, but she never gave up on me. She saw good in what was left of me, and was determined to make me see it too. She wanted to help me, but also knew she could only do it at my own speed, not hers, and I'm proud to say that eventually she was able to get that idea through my thick skull." Neight closed his eyes and placed a hand over his heart, "I truly owe Madame my life, and once my body and mind were healed I assumed I would be sent on my way, there was no longer any need for the headmistress's kindness now that I was back on my feet, and though it pained me to do so, I knew I had to leave. There was no place for me at an establishment like Shade Academy, but imagine my surprise when Madame not only opened her home to a teenager whom had nothing, but also allowed him to attend one of the most prestigious huntsman academies on Remnant."

The professor took a proud step towards a still wide eyed May, "That, my dear, is how I became the huntsman, and teacher I am today. All because Madame was kind, but knew I'd lived a strained life and needed time to learn to accept such kindness." The bat faunus put one of his gloved hands on his pupils shoulders, "Do you understand why I'm telling you this, Miss Daffidys?" Neight's red eyes were full of intelligence and wisdom as he did his best to pass on the lessons he'd learned long ago.

Unfortunately, the cow girl standing in front of him just gave a blank look as she slightly cocked her head in confusion.

Professor Neight blinked a few times as silence filled the balcony. "Um... perhaps my tale brings someone else to mind?... Someone you may know who's going through a similar situation?" he said hopefully.

May just continued to stare, for she may have a big heart, but the cow faunus wasn't always quick when it came to picking up on subtlety. _Someone I know? Who do I know that's-_

"Oh... OOOOHHHH!" May exclaimed as the -honestly not very subtle at all- meaning behind her elders story got through to her. She'd been so absolutely entranced by the tale that everything that'd happened today had been pushed to the back of her mind, but now she knew what she had to do... or at least had more of an ideas than she did before. For Maybelle Daffidys may be a little slow on the uptake, but once those gears in her head started turning, there was no stopping her.

"Thanks professor! I gotta go find Nichol before it's too late," May quickly ran back into the hallways of Shade, but only got a few steps away before she stopped. The cow faunus stood in place a moment before returning to the balcony where Neight was now staring off into the distance as night descended on Vacuo. "Professor?" she said softly.

Neight merely looked over his shoulder and offered a short, "Hm?" in response.

"In your story you made it sound like Ms. Evergreen was headmistress when you were a teenager," May said inquisitively.

Neight just smiled. "Did I now? How odd," he said nonchalantly, "well, I think we both know that would be quite unlikely, would it not, Miss Daffidys?"

Maybelle just stared for a moment before nodding slowly, "Yeah... I guess it would..." the faunus girl shrugged and continued on her way.

The bat faunus smirked as he turned back to face the vista before him, "... Quite unlikely, indeed..." he said to himself. Just then, Professor Neight's scroll began vibrating in his pocket and when he took it out his smile grew fonder as the caller ID revealed who it was.

"Good evening, Madame."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **A/N- AND HERE I AM! JUST LIKE I SAID IN THE BEFORE PART! Don't say I never keep my promises! Not a very action heavy chapter, but we gotta get this character building out of the way before we have another dinosaur laser fight or something. Hopefully I've given a better look at who I want Nichol to become here, she's just a little grumpy is all, needs some good friends in her life. Also, it seems like the character everyone likes the least is Maybelle, but maybe the next chapter will change that. She's got stuff going on! Stuff I alluded to here, but am excited to get into.**_

 _ **Speaking of which; NEXT TIME! Forgiveness is only one apology away, but can it be that simple? Can the shattered MOON become whole again?**_


	15. A Small Comfort

**Chapter 15- A Small Comfort**

The long elevator ride back down from the headmistress' office had provided Nichol with adequate time to think on her situation and come to a decision; she was leaving.

Eden expected her to just apologize to her partner and then everything was going to be okay? Preposterous. Why even bother putting forth the effort to track down the annoying faunus when the conversation would only go one of two ways. Either Oran would refuse to accept said apology and Nichol would be expelled, or he'd just laugh it off like he did with everything, and then she'd probably punch him again, leading to the same outcome, and neither of these scenarios would put the silver haired girl on good terms with Ms. Evergreen.

Nichol exited the elevator with a sneer on her face at how the faunus headmistress had tried to get in to her head, bringing up all those unpleasant memories, and for what? To try and bond with her? To convince her to stay? Maybe she just wanted to twist the knife a bit? Nichol didn't know, and quite frankly, she didn't care anymore, she was gone. A quick trip to her locker to grab her weapon and then she would be on-

Nichol was stopped mid thought as she rounded a corner and came face to face with possibly the last person she wanted to see right now. Oran's green eyes went wide in surprise as the silver haired girl seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of him. Nichol was equally caught off guard as her body went rigid, a sudden cocktail of emotions spinning inside her. The go-to feeling was annoyance of course, it was a built in response after having to spend the last week in the annoying faunus' company, but then she saw the big purplish black bruise on the side of his face.

Nichol felt... bad? Was that what this was? Yes, she'd hit Oran, there was no denying what happened, but what reason did she have to feel guilty about it? Nichol had warned the orange haired nuisance numerous times about his jokes and he'd still continued to push her. He'd had it coming... right? Then we did she feel so rotten inside when he looked at her?

"Oh, hey, Nichol," Oran said quietly, a weak, forced smile on his face. Then he went to walk around his partner to continue on his path, but then Nichol's hand shot out and grabbed his mechanical forearm tightly, stopping him in his tracks. Oran gave his partner a confused look as Nichol opened her mouth to speak, but produced no words.

She was just so... mad at him right now! The way he gave her that fake smile, the way he looked at her like a kicked puppy, and to top it all off, he'd called her 'Nichol' instead of 'Nicky!' The spear wielder didn't know why, but that angered her most of all. What right did he have to look so... sad! That wasn't how he was supposed to be, he was supposed to be overly cheerful and annoying! This... she would not stand for this!

Needless to say, Nichol was not great with emotions, especially her own. She dealt with them just fine, mainly by burying them deep down inside and not dealing with them, but right now it felt like all those emotions she'd repressed were screaming at her and there was only one way she could think to stop it.

"Oran..." the teenager finally managed to croak out. Nichol didn't know why she was bothering with all of this, maybe because the opportunity had presented itself so conveniently, the two of them had literally wandered right into each other. So now she felt like if she gave up without at least trying she'd never be able to get past this. With this -rather nonsensical- rationalization in her brain, the silver haired girl took a deep breath, and finally said it, "I'm sorry for hitting you." There it was, like pulling off a band-aid, it was best to do it quickly.

The two students were silent for a moment, Nichol looked at Oran expectantly for his reaction, but he just looked... shocked. Then, slowly a grin started spreading across his face. The already aggravated girl furrowed her brow at the faunus, she swore to whatever deity was listening if he started laughing now they'd never find his body.

But Oran didn't laugh, he just wore that new smile and said, "Yeah, don't worry about it, Nicky. No harm done."

Nichol sighed, she didn't know why she'd even bothered, there was never any chance Oran would forgive-

"Wait, what!?" she shouted to the thankfully mostly empty hallway as the hyena faunus' words finally sunk in. The human girl retracted her arm from Oran in surprise.

 _He... just like that?_ The young huntress in training was in disbelief.

With his prosthetic free from Nichols grip, Oran went to continue on his way, "Like I said, we're good, I'll see you ar-"

The hyena faunus was cut off when the orange eyed girl stepped back in front of him, blocking his path. "That's it?" she asked in disbelief.

Oran gave Nichol a strange look, "Umm... yes? I think that's it... Unless you want pointers on how to punch someone? Because I gotta say, you hit like a truck full of doorknobs, but your form could use a little-"

"Shut up," Nichol said as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration at both the tone of voice she'd just used and her inability to comprehend this completely irrational train of thought. "You forgive me? Just like that?"

Oran put a hand on his hip and smiled, looking much more like himself in Nichol's opinion, for better or worse. "Well, it's not like it's the first time I've taken a punch to the face over an admittedly poorly timed joke. So in a way, I guess I sorta had it coming, and I get why you did it."

Nichol didn't believe him. Oran must be lying, trying to get her to lower her guard or something by 'accepting' her apology so easily. "Did Eden talk to you?" she asked, the idea that the headmistress would try and get further involved in her life was not at all farfetched in the silver haired girls mind.

Oran looked lost for a moment. "Ms. Evergreen?" he said in confusion, "No... why would she need to talk to- wait, she didn't find out about that thing I did, did she? I swear those animals got out of their pens at the zoo all on their own!"

Nichol couldn't tell if Oran was serious, or just rambling idiotically as he usually did. It didn't matter either way really, she was too busy trying and failing to wrap her head around this. She'd HIT him, and he was just fine with it? If their situation had been reversed, she would have-

"But, since we're throwing apologies around," Oran interrupted Nichols train of thought, "I guess I kinda owe you one too..."

This conversation couldn't possibly have gone in a more different direction than Nichol had anticipated. Now Oran was apologizing to her? What was happening here!?

"So yeah, sorry I made you hit me? I guess?" the hyena boy said with a shrug. Nichol was too flabbergasted to reply at this point. "I mean, it's not like I'm okay with the fact that you slugged me good, but... Ugh. Can I start this apology over?"

Oran mistook Nichol's silence -which was a result of the small mental breakdown she was having- as permission to continue, "So... I realized back then that I can't really become friends with you." Nichol felt an unfamiliar pang in her chest at that, one she couldn't quite identify the meaning of at the time before Oran continued, "At least, I can't do it the same way I usually do," Nichol raised an eyebrow at this. "So I'll make you a deal; I promise to take it easy on the jokes with you from now on, and you promise to only punch me when and if I really deserve it. Sound good?"

The silver haired girl had never felt so lost in all of her life. No matter how hard she tried, she just could not understand the way of thinking of the person standing in front of her. "... Why?" she said quietly, "Why are you like this? You should hate me for what I've done..."

 _All of your kind should..._

The silent thought on the end of that sentence brought to mind a long list of crimes Nichol had committed against faunus. She'd done such terrible things when she was with the Hand of Humanity and never once thought she deserved to even think about being forgiven. This crime seemed much smaller by comparison, obviously, but it still was an assault, not something to be taken lightly.

Oran shrugged again, "Meh, I thought about doing the whole 'hate you forever' thing, didn't seem like much fun. Forgiveness just works out better for all of us, don't ya think?"

Nichol was still speechless as she stared at someone who embodied the exact opposite of everything she'd ever been taught in life. _He doesn't know me. He doesn't know what horrible things I've done, and if he did, he'd-  
_  
Nichol stopped a moment as a realization came to her; Oran didn't know who she really was, but it didn't matter. He'd forgiven her, and that was the only criteria Eden had placed in the way of Nichol staying at Shade. She still had no idea why the hyena boy had so casually accepted her apology, but she could figure that out later. Nichol would be able to continue with her training at one of the best huntsmen training schools on Remnant, that was all that mattered to the silver haired girl.

"Well... okay then," Nichol said, turning around and starting to walk away seeing as how her business with her teammate was finished in her mind.

"Hey, Nichol?"

The orange eyed girl sighed in exasperation, she should have known it wouldn't be that easy. She begrudgingly looked back over her shoulder at the shaggy haired faunus. "You..." Oran started but stopped seemingly to choose his words carefully, "you look really tired." Nichol gave her partner a confused look, "I'm just saying, you know you have a bed in our dorm with your name on it, whenever you're ready."

Oran smiled at Nichol in a way that made the regularly crabby girl very... uncomfortable? It was different from his normal, every second of every day smile, it looked more... welcoming? Well, it made her feel strange, that was all she knew for certain, but at the same time, he had a point. Nichol couldn't remember the last time she'd had a good nights sleep, or even the last time she'd slept in a real bed. "I'll... consider that..." she said uncertainly, this whole conversation felt way out of Nichol's comfort zone.

Oran's smile brightened, "Good! 'Cause I doubt those couches in the student lounge are very comfortable anyway ." With that, the orange haired huntsman in training turned and started walking away. There was another point Nichol would have to agree with her partner on, those couches weren't fit for a- Wait.

"How did you know where I've been-"

"Catch you later, Nicky!" Oran yelled back as he waved, leaving Nichol alone in the hallway.

The silver haired girl stared at the back of the orange haired buffoons head as he left, her expression still as lost as it had been during their conversation. "... It's Nichol..." she muttered under her breath to no one.

With that, the slightly more at ease Huntress began walking back to her teams dorm. Oran's thought about her getting some rest was persistent in her head, so she decided to give it a try. The way she figured, the rest of her team would probably be at their final classes of the day for at least another hour, the dorm would be empty, hopefully that'd be enough to allow her to get a little undisturbed sleep.

Nichol could hardly believe how things had worked out, she was actually going to be able to stay at Shade, it was an unbelievably fortuitous turn of events for her. The young huntress in training briefly considered informing the headmistress about this, but Nichol reasoned if the faunus administrator found out about what the silver haired girl had done to Angus so quickly, then Ms. Evergreen probably somehow already knew. The silver haired girl assumed the faunus headmistress would be in touch anyway, in the back of her head Nichol wondered if Eden had known all along that things would work out this way.

Nichol groaned inwardly at remembering she still had to write that letter of apology to Angus, but it was a small price to pay for the continued training at one of the most renowned combat schools on Remnant. It had been a close call, that was for certain, she'd have to be doubly vigilant now to avoid similar situations with her team, and the only solution Nichol could come up with was to further alienate her teammates. The more time she spent around them, the more likely something like this whole debacle would happen again.

The spear wielder made her way to the floor with the students dorms on it as she continued to plan out how she would go about avoiding her team. Oran would be the hardest to avoid, that particular faunus seemed intent on bothering her every waking moment. Oreonna and Maybelle however, they would be much easier to ignore. While Oran seemed to have forgiven her, Nichol doubted her other teammates would be as willing, they seemed to have substantially more common sense than the only male member of team MOON did. So if they wanted nothing to do with her, then Nichol wouldn't have to worry about having anything to do with them.

The young huntress arrived at her teams room and with a quick swipe of her scroll she heard the door unlock and she went inside. However, instead of an empty room, Nichol found her bovine leader sitting on her bed, Maybelle's brown eyes locking onto Nichol's orange the instant she entered.

It figured.

Oh well, it wasn't like Nichol was that tired anyway, but now she needed to come up with a believable excuse as to why she'd come back to the dorm in the first place. Without sparing her teammate a second look, Nichol walked over to her own bed and got a random book from the collection of texts on her nightstand. Maybelle still hadn't said anything, which would normally be fine by the anti-social Nichol, but at the same time the silver haired girl could feel the faunus still staring at her, which in a way was far more unsettling. It was clear she wanted to say something, but Maybelle still remained silent as Nichol tucked the book under her arm and went to leave.

"Did you apologize to Oran yet?" Nichol been about three steps from the exit when Maybelle had finally decided to speak up. The human girl stopped in her tracks, she'd figured that's what the blonde was having so much trouble bringing up.

Nichol didn't even turn around. "Yes," she said plainly before taking another step towards the door.

"Wait," May said as Nichol heard the creak of her mattress as the cow faunus stood and started walking towards her. Nichol was in no mood for whatever this was, she'd had more than enough of her teammates for one day, so she just kept walking, grabbing the door handle and pulling it open just a crack before a sudden force made it slam shut.

Nichol looked up and saw one of Maybelle's giant arms holding the door closed. The orange eyed girl tried to reopen it regardless, but unsurprisingly the giant of a faunus outclassed her in strength. Nichol looked up at her team leaders face and glared at her, trying to look as intimidating as her smaller form allowed, but Maybelle just glared back. For the first time, the silver haired girl was noticing just how imposing her leader could look, and for a moment the air in the room grew cold as it appeared another confrontation was about to unfold.

Then Maybelle relented, letting go of the door and sighing. "I'm not gonna keep you here against your will," May said sadly, "but I need you to at least listen to what I have to say, Nichol."

The smaller girl started unconsciously sizing up her leader, familiar lessons playing back in her head;

 _ **She's not much bigger than that Grimmspawn with the horns you took down earlier.**_

 _ **She thinks she can use her size to intimidate you.**_

 _ **But the big ones make it too easy to use their size and weight against them.**_

 _ **A bit of quick movement and she'll be down.**_

 _ **Then all it takes is one clean cut across the-**_

Nichol blocked the familiar voice from her memories from going any further than that. She didn't need a repeat of the violence from earlier, she didn't want that to be the way she dealt with problems like this anymore. So Nichol relaxed her tense stance, letting go of the doors handle and taking a step away from the exit to face the cow girl, giving Maybelle her full attention. If nothing else, the faunus had shown some backbone and conviction for once, that made Nichol feel a bit more respect for her and had earned the blonde a few moments of her time.

"I'm glad you apologized to Oran, I really am," May said with a tired looking smile, "but things here," the cow faunus gestured to the room around them, Nichol assumed she was referring to their team, "they need to change."

The silver haired girl remained silent, crossing her arms as she let May continue. "I can accept you don't want to be friends with us, whether it's because we're faunus or whatever your reasons are. Also, I see now that us getting involved the way we did with Angus earlier was a bad idea, that was the wrong way for us to help, and I apologize for that." Nichol was a little surprised at just how many apologies she'd received today when she was the one who'd assaulted two students.

"We don't have to be friends if you don't want to, but we are a team now, and that means we're all on the same side working towards a common goal, and your attitude? All it's doing is dragging us all down with you." Nichols brow furrowed, but again she found herself a little impressed that the usually gentle and softhearted Maybelle was speaking to her in such a way.

"As you know, we're graded at this school both as students and as a team, fifty-fifty. So if our teamwork suffers, we all do." Yes. Nichol was aware, but she figured as long as she showed up to team exams their wouldn't be a problem there. However it was safe to say that their match against the well coordinated team NDGO had disproved that theory. "So here's my proposition; if you spend one hour a night with your teammates, just to discuss strategies and do a little training, then you'll have the rest of your time to yourself if that's what you want."

Nichol was quiet a moment longer as she thought about the presented deal. It seemed... fair, she supposed, she wasn't exactly looking forward to losing the hour, but if this would help to prevent future incidents then she could live with it. Also it was swiftly becoming obvious that she wouldn't get anywhere here at Shade without at least pretending to get along with her teammates, especially under Ms. Evergreens watchful eyes. If all it would take to maintain this charade was sacrificing one hour a day, it was worth a try.

"... Fine," Nichol mumbled out of the side of her mouth.

"Awesome," May said with a more confident smile, "Oh, and also you're gonna have to start tutoring Oran from now on."

Nichols eyes went wide before her usual scowl took over her face, "Absolutely not." If her leader expected her to waste what little precious time she had left trying to teach that thick headed mongrel, then she was sorely mistaken.

"Oran has the lowest test scores of all of us, and you get the highest, it just make sense," May said, the subtle attempt at flattery not going unnoticed by the spear wielder, "and if Oreonna's busy with tutoring her own lost cause-" the faunus girl pointed to herself to identify who had the second worse grades on the team, "-then it has to be you."

Nichol fumed on this for a bit, but it was like May had said; they were graded as a team, and that meant they could just as easily fail as one too. So the silver haired girl relented, but she wasn't about to go down without a fight, "Fine, but the time spent tutoring that... Oran, will count towards my hour with the team everyday."

Maybelle clearly wasn't expecting negotiations to be a part of this conversation, and Nichol thought maybe she could use that to her advantage, but after some consideration the cow girl was able to fire back, "Okay then, but you have to do an hour on the weekends too." Nichol winced, she hadn't expected Maybelle to come back with her own shrewd negotiations so fast, the cow girl just kept on impressing her today, which was becoming more annoying than uplifting at this point.

While the silver haired girl wasn't thrilled with the results, the deal May was proposing wasn't completely unfair, Nichol would even go as far as to say it seemed reasonable, maybe she really was tired after all. Or maybe she was just confident she could fake her way through all this needless cooperation being forced on her. Or maybe, just maybe, what Eden said to her about her mother and seeing the same potential in her, might have had Nichol feeling open to giving this whole thing a chance, though she'd never admit it.

Whatever the reason, Nichol nodded to Maybelle, "Okay, I suppose we can give this a try."

May had to fight to hold back her sigh of relief at her teammates acceptance of her plan. Honestly, she'd expected more of a fight from the girl who'd torn out another students nose ring earlier today.

 _Gods, that happened today, didn't it? Feels like forever ago._

Still, Nichol had agreed, and it was time to seal the deal. Maybelle raised a hand and offered it to the spear wielder, and after one final moment of reluctance, the smaller girl shook it.

May smiled down at Nichol, who looked away with an annoyed expression before pulling her hand back. "I don't suppose we could start our new arrangement tomorrow?" she said.

"Yeah, that's fine," May replied, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly, "I think we've all suffered enough for one day. I'll try and work out a scheduled time for all of us to meet up after classes and send it to your scroll."

"Okay," Nichol said flatly, "I'll be going then."

So Nichol stepped back towards the door only to have it open by itself before she got there. All of the color drained out of Maybelle's face as Nichol stood face to face with Oreonna. The cat faunus looked shocked for half a second before scowling at her human teammate, and the silver haired girl responded in kind.

This was not good, not only was May in no way ready to face Oreonna again after what had been revealed earlier, but also the animosity between the cat girl and the human could potentially destroy the new formed, fragile alliance Maybelle had just created. The silence of team MOON's dorm room was overwhelming in the presence of the stand off, even the teams leader felt paralyzed by it.

Oreonna was the first to speak after letting out a harsh breath, "So... I guess you're staying then?"

"So it would seem," Nichol responded in an emotionless tone.

Again, a deafening silence took over and Maybelle was pretty sure her heart had stopped, waiting for the inevitable implosion. Instead however, when the cat girl spoke again her tone seemed to have softened, "Did you apologize to Oran yet?"

"I did," Nichol said, sounding a little annoyed to have to answer the question a second time.

"And did he forgive you?"

"... He did."

Silence. A pin could drop onto a pillow and the sound would rattle the walls of the room at this moment. No sound, and in Maybelle's case, still no heartbeat.

Finally, after what felt like ages had passed, Oreonna stepped aside giving Nichol a clear exit from the room. "Okay then," she said.

The orange eyed girl looked a bit taken aback by this before nodding, "Okay..." she mumbled as she left the room and proceeded down the hall to god knows where.

May almost felt her legs give out from under her as her heart continued it's normal rhythm and it appeared the worst was over. That is, until Oreonna shut the door behind their teammate, leaving the cow girl alone with her partner, and suddenly Maybelle's anxiety was back in spades.

The cat faunus stood there awkwardly, with her arms crossed and a look on her face that possibly resembled May's when Nichol had first come back to the dorm; a look that said, 'We need to talk, but I have no idea where to even start'.

Maybelle knew this conversation was unavoidable now, so she decided to at least get the ball rolling for her partners sake, "I'm glad Nichol told Oran she was sorry, even if the headmistress probably made her do it."

"... Me too," Oreonna replied, "but even if he did forgive her, I just don't think I'm there yet."

"That's okay, I talked to her and we worked out a deal that'll hopefully make things a little less... y'know, from now on," Maybelle tried to sound as confident as she could about her plan to get Nichol more involved, but Oreonna still looked unconvinced.

"Well... I guess... if she's going to start making an effort, then I should too," the cat girl said begrudgingly. The blonde was impressed and thankful that her partner was willing to give Nichol at least one more chance, it made her believe that there was hope for team MOON yet. Then the cat girl looked up at Maybelle with a serious expression, "We need to talk about what happened with Angus though." After finding her footing in the conversation, it looked like Oreonna was finally ready to address the real reason she was here.

May felt her stomach twist, "I know..." she said looking away and wincing. She'd been so focused on trying to get through to Nichol, that the cow girl hadn't really had time to put any thought into what she'd say to her partner about all of this when the time came.

"I'm not mad at you, you know?" Oreonna said, even though her posture spoke otherwise, "Well, okay, I'm a little angry I had to hear all that from Angus..."

May chuckled lifelessly, "That's fair, but I'm glad you know now at least," Maybelle's fists clenched at her side as she looked downward choosing to stare at her partners feet instead of her face, all of this was still difficult to talk about for her. "It's better that you found out who I really am, I'm just sorry I tricked you for so long into thinking I was a good person."

"Don't say that," Oreonna interjected. May looked up to see her partners pink eyes looking at her sternly.

"Oreo-"

"Do you really think I'm gonna take anything that scumbag bully has to say at face value? I've barely known him for a day and I already can't stand the guy." Oreonna stepped towards the tall blonde and did her best to reach up and put a hand on her partners shoulder, "I want to hear the truth, and I want it to come from someone I trust, and that's you, May."

Maybelle smiled, partially at how the height difference between the two of them would make the cat girls comforting gesture look a little comical to a third party watching, but mostly it was the fact that her partner still trusted her after everything that had happened today. The cow faunus didn't see how her version of the truth was going to be any better, Angus hadn't been lying, he'd only been vague about things. Still, the way the diminutive cat girl was looking up at her with wide, pleading eyes, Maybelle had no defense against it.

The cow faunus sighed, "Okay, do you mind if we sit?" The cat girl nodded and the two walked over to Oreonna's bed and sat at the edge of it. The two were sitting close, but not too close, with a comfortable distance between them. May crossed her ankles and held her hands in her lap as she slouched over and began her story, "I guess it all started during my first year at Vast Academy. I don't know what caused it, but I guess puberty hit me like a ton of bricks because I suddenly started dating pretty heavily back then. Hormones and stuff, y'know?"

Oreonna gave her partner a look that clearly said she did not know what that was like, but stayed quiet to let her leader continue. "So yeah, I... got around, I guess that's the polite way to put it. I thought it was all just harmless fun, I'd date a girl for a few weeks and then move on. I know how that sounds, but at the time I just didn't realize... or didn't care, that I was hurting a lot of people. Then everything changed at the start of my second year, that's when I met Chleo."

Maybelle's frown deepened as she started rubbing her hands together in her lap. "She was an exchange student from Mistral, and she was... amazing. Everyone loved her, she was a strong fighter, easily the most popular girl at Vast, and if I'm gonna get overly honest; incredibly hot."

There was a ghost of a smile on the cow faunus' face as she talked about the girl, but it was snuffed out a second later. "Honestly, I didn't even want to try and show an interest in her at first, I thought she was too good for me. I may have been a little self absorbed back then, but I wasn't that arrogant. Shockingly, in the end, she actually approached me first, which was a first in my experience, maybe that's why I got so hooked?"

The faunus girl had finally stopped fidgeting with her hands for the most part and settled for absentmindedly tapping her index finger against her wrist. She could still remember how her heart would soar whenever Chleo came up to her, but now when she thought about the girl it was like someone had sniped her heart out of the sky and now it was in an endless tailspin. "We started slow, another new experience for me. Chleo was my best friend for a while, but I think even then we both knew we wanted more. So we started dating, like, exclusively, and for almost that entire school year, things were amazing. I'd never been so happy before, I-" Maybelle stopped as a lump formed in her throat, which she immediately swallowed, but she couldn't stop her eyes from starting to burn a bit as tears threatened to spill out. "I... I really think I was in love with her..." Gods, saying it was even harder than thinking about it. What could have been...

Oreonna remained quiet, giving her friend a sad look as if she could tell this story wasn't going to have a happy ending. "Then," May started again, reluctantly, "she had to go spend a summer with her family back in Mistral, apparently her folks were big wigs on the art scene over there. It was going to be tough, but we promised we'd make it work, she'd be back in a few months for the next semester anyway. We agreed to write back and forth and we did, it wasn't perfect, but it worked, we kept in touch. It was a looong summer, but eventually she came back, I was so happy to see her again, I..." May stopped and shifted her body on the mattress, "I didn't realize how much she'd changed."

Oreonna tilted her head to the side, "Changed? How?" she asked.

The cow faunus' back shoulders slouched further, almost like she was about to collapse into herself, "Chleo started acting differently, suddenly she was picking apart other peoples appearance, laughing at their expense, and making fun of them, she pretty much started going out of her way to make other people miserable, like she was better than them, or something. I guess I was too obsessed with her to notice she was becoming a bully, and what's worse was I... I started going along with it..."

Oreonna's eyes widened and Maybelle sensed that whatever image of perfection the cat girl had of her was just shattered. It was a good thing though, even though it hurt, it was time May stopped pretending to be something she wasn't. What had she been thinking back then? Had she just been so obsessed that she'd been willing to do whatever it took just to make Chleo smile? How blind was she?

"The next thing I knew we were doing stupid stuff like skipping classes, picking fights, and just generally making things difficult for everyone around us, all for... fun? I guess? I really don't even know why anymore... but it didn't matter to me, I was just happy being with Chleo, but apparently she didn't feel the same way."

Maybelle placed her hands at her sides and balled them tightly into fists, anything to counteract the pain in her chest as she went on, "Eventually, even I wasn't safe from her, she started saying things to me about the way I looked, about how I was too tall or wasn't feminine enough for her, or-" Maybelle stopped again to take a breath, "Or that I was lucky someone like her could love someone like me, because no one else ever would." Something changed in Oreonna's body language when Maybelle mentioned that, the cat girls brow furrowed, her own hands turning into fists like May's, "What's crazy about that is after hearing it so much, I started believing her."

It had been two years since the girl of her dreams had first made that offhanded comment. Chleo would always laugh it off afterwards, and May would laugh too, but a seed of doubt was planted and what happened next confirmed Chleo's words had long term effects. "I tried changing for her, to make Chleo feel the way she used to about me. I was so determined that I... I actually started taking diet pills she gave me."

Maybelle felt her stomach churn in a different way, out of disgust as the memories of those drugs made her want to vomit. "I don't know where she got them, I didn't know how many to take, so I just kept swallowing more and more. I was a mess, I wasn't eating, I couldn't sleep, the pills just... almost destroyed me. Then, one day at school I just kind of... collapsed." May didn't bother looking up to see Oreonna's reaction, she was almost done with the story anyway, "I woke up in the hospital with my parents standing over me, they'd already been worried about me before I'd passed out, now they were beside themselves and angry, mainly about the drugs the doctors had found in my system. I was so scared, I just broke down and told them everything that had been going on with Chleo and me, and they said they'd take care of things. I stayed in the hospital for a few more days, mainly to get my strength back, I kept expecting Chleo to show up, but she never did, I found out why later. She'd been expelled for giving me the pills, as well as all the other marks on her record. I was punished too, but less severely, since I was 'the victim' in all this. In the end, I was suspended for a month for possession of the pills, it uh... it even ended up costing me a scholarship to Haven that I'd applied for." That had been a heavy blow to Maybelle, Haven was her dream school back then, of course, that was mostly because Chleo had always talked about how beautiful Mistral was. It had sucked, but there were consequences for the things Maybelle had done, and unfortunately, losing that scholarship was only the beginning.

"Anyway, I heard from the other kids that Chleo and her family moved back to Mistral after she'd been expelled. She didn't even try to talk to me, she just... left," Maybelle felt a bit of shame at the anger that was starting to rise in her, "but she did talk to everyone else."

"What do you mean?" Oreonna asked, the cat girl had been so quiet that Maybelle had almost forgotten she was still listening.

The tall blonde sighed again, "Well, Chleo was an arrogant, selfish, bully, but she was still the most popular girl at Vast, so when she spoke, people listened. I'm sure you already guessed, but she was the one who started the rumors about me." There it was, the reason Maybelle's last year at Vast Academy had been a living hell, and also why the cow girl hadn't so much as looked at another girl since. Well, except for maybe...

May shook the thoughts from her head as she finished her tale. "Chleo told people I was the one who pushed her to do all those horrible things, that I'd framed her and then my parents had struck a deal with the headmaster to kick her out of school. Not only that, but she went on to say things like I'd been fooling around with other girls while the two of us were dating, and people believed her, everyone did. When my suspension was up, I went back to school an outcast, even Nebula and Gwen, two of my oldest friends were giving me weird looks at first. It took forever just to convince them those rumors weren't true, and even now I'm not sure they completely believe me."

May was doing her best to hold back tears at this point, but honestly all she felt was empty inside, not angry, not sad, just a husk of a person that had all the happiness ripped out of them by someone they'd loved. So when Oreonna suddenly wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace, the cow girl just sat there, motionless, not even attempting to return the hug.

"I'm so sorry, May," Oreonna said, her own voice sounding strained at hearing about her leaders strife, "you didn't deserve-"

"But I did," May interrupted, not loudly or angrily, her voice was low, but easily cut through the silence of the room. "I may not have been directly responsible for the things that happened, but I still did nothing to stop them. I could have done something, I could have helped Chleo, kept her from changing like she did. What kind of friend was I that I just let it happen? I loved her and I sat back and watched while she hurt people." The trembling cat girl at May's side never let go as the tall faunus continued, "I deserve it, I deserve all of it, it's my penance for how I was back then, even before Chleo."

There was only one real truth in Maybelle's eyes, she'd known it for a while now, but it was time for Oreonna to hear it for herself, "I'm a bad per-"

"Shut up!" Oreonna cut her friend off. May looked down to see the cat girl looking up at her with wet, angry eyes, "Don't say that, you are not a bad person, May."

The cow faunus smiled an empty, lifeless smile. It was nice that Oreonna was trying to make her feel better, but they'd barely known each other a week. "You don't know th-"

"You're right, I didn't know the May at Vast," Oreonna interrupted again, still holding her teammate, "I only know the May I met in the cafeteria that night before the Catacombs," Maybelle stopped trying to interject as the black and white haired faunus' tangent continued, "the one who said she liked my violin playing, who went out of her way to help me, who was willing to sacrifice everything to save her team, and who wanted to do whatever she could to make Nichol feel like a part of that same team."

The cow girl was stunned silent. Yeah, she'd done those things, but it didn't forgive all the mistake she'd made, right? "You're a good person, May," Maybelle's heart broke as Oreonna let a few tears slip out, "You care about other people more than yourself, and maybe you had to learn that lesson the hard way, but it's still who you are to me. If anything I think you beat yourself up so much about things in the past you can't change that you don't see how different you are now."

May couldn't help but smile as she looked into those bright, pink eyes that seemed to see so much good in her. The cow girl still wasn't sure if she felt the same, but having someone who believed in her as much as Oreonna did helped. Finally, Maybelle returned the hug the cat girl had put her in, she rested her chin on top of Oreonna's head, right between her black and white cat ears.

"I'm... I'm not perfect," May whispered the understatement softly, almost as if she was making one last ditch effort to convince her teammate she was wrong to feel the way she did.

"That's okay, neither am I," Oreonna said, her head tucked under her leaders in their tight embrace, "but you're May, and that'll always be good enough for me."

The blonde let out a breath, the weight on her shoulders from the last few hours -hell, the last few years- felt just a little lighter.

Oreonna pulled away after another moment passed, "I'm glad you told me all that," she said as she brushed a few errant strands of the white half of her hair behind her ear, a shy smile on her face.

 _Gods, how was it even possible for someone to be this cute and not realize it?_ May thought to herself. "Well... thanks for listening," the cow girl responded. This was a nice moment, just the two of them, alone, sitting next to each other, no schoolwork or training to get in the way, just-

A loud rumble came from May's stomach as she was suddenly aware that with everything that'd been going on, she'd skipped lunch as well as dinner today. There was a long, awkward silence in the room after Maybelle's stomach stopped it long, incredibly audible, growling, then both girls just started laughing. The blonde cow faunus was mortified, but at the same time she found Oreonna's laughter infectious.

"Well, now that we got that out of the way," the black and white haired girl said as she stood, "why don't we head to the cafeteria? We can still grab some dinner if we hurry."

May had to admit that she was starving right now, but the cow girl was still a little overwhelmed after the day she'd had. "Sure, you go on ahead, I'll catch up." The blonde reclined back onto Oreonna's bed, "I think I just need a minute to... I don't know, process this whole crazy day."

Her partner gave her an understanding look before exiting the dorm. May laid down the rest of the way and closed her eyes, not even caring if this wasn't her bed. She was exhausted, her hunger was the only thing keeping her awake now, that and thoughts of how amazing her black and white haired teammate was. She didn't feel like she deserved Oreonna, as a partner, or a friend, or even...

Again, Maybelle had to shake off those thoughts, but she had to be honest with herself, she liked Oreonna, more than she had liked anyone in a long time. She wasn't sure how, but the sometimes timid, sometimes brash cat girl had worked her way into her heart and thoughts in almost record time. It wasn't anything serious, just a little crush she could easily ignore... or at least that's what Maybelle kept telling herself. At the same time though, it all just felt too familiar to May, the wounds inflicted by Chleo were still fresh to her, she wasn't sure what to do with these feelings, or if she should even pursue them.

It probably didn't even matter, Oreonna wasn't like her, she wasn't into girls, or at least that was the vibe Maybelle got from her. Oreo didn't seem to be into anyone for that matter, at least not romantically anyway... not that May had been paying attention or anything. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing you outright asked someone you'd only known a week or so either.

"Hey, May?"

The cow girl lifted her head off the mattress just enough to see Oreonna standing in the doorway again. "Hm?" the tired Maybelle hummed back.

The cat faunus looked uncomfortable or possibly embarrassed, her teammate could tell by the way she was rubbing her glove covered forearm anxiously. "She was wrong by the way... Chleo, I mean..." there was a brief flash of anger across the small cat girls face as she spoke that name, and it surprised Maybelle.

"About what?" the blonde asked.

Oreonna fidgeted in place some more, looking downward, May could just make out the slight tint of a blush in her cheeks, "About no one else ever being able to love you... I think... I think anyone who knew you could."

The cat girl looked up briefly to give May a warm, yet flustered smile, before quickly exiting the room again, leaving Maybelle laying there, staring at the empty door frame with a look of disbelief and her jaw hanging open. After a few seconds May collapsed backwards on the bed again with a shocked expression still on her face.

Gods, what a day.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of Remnant, in a lab located deep underground, computers monitors were turning back on for the first time in months. The group of scientists and technicians that had been working tirelessly to fix the machines all let out a collective sigh of relief. However the feeling of dread in the air returned almost immediately as a hooded figure appeared from the doorway.

His grey cloak covered his head and shoulders all the way down to his black boots. The few lights in the room reflected off the gold emblem holding the cloak closed in the center of his chest, it depicted a five fingered hand with a "X" over the palm. Under the shadow of his hood, a dull, scratched, golden mask covered the mans face as her peered around the room at the now functional equipment.

"You," he spoke in a deep voice, pointing to the nearest scientist, "what's the status of the repairs?"

The older man gulped loudly, taking a moment to straighten the creases in his lab coat before speaking, "We are back to 100% functionality, my lord." A bead of sweat went down the scientists face as he reluctantly continued, "However... without the original blueprints that were stolen along with the device, I'm afraid production will remain halted... and we'll be forced to go back to square one..."

The hooded man stepped closer to the now trembling, elderly scientist," You've done well getting our equipment back in working order, but-" The figure shot his right hand out from beneath his cloak, a short, golden blade that was curved like a serpent slid effortlessly into the scientists torso, "your failure at allowing the weapon to be taken in the first place must be punished."

The older man looked down at the sword in his chest, blood staining his pure white lab coat. he feebly reached towards it's wielders wrist, almost weakly trying to remove the weapon. Then, without a word, the man in the golden mask ripped his blade free. The scientist fell to his knees, his hands futilely trying to stop the bleeding, "St- Sterling, ple-"

With a quick swing of his twisted sword, Sterling silenced the kneeling man. The scientists body falling to the ground with a pool of blood forming beneath him, his own head joining it soon thereafter.

Behind the golden mask, one burning orange eye scanned the group of living scientists and technicians. Some were watching in horror, others had gone back to work, trying there best to ignore the grizzly scene. Either way, production seemed to be back on track, but Sterling knew it'd take too long starting from scratch, they needed that weapon back.

"Lord Sterling," a man appeared from the same entrance Sterling had used earlier. He swore a similar outfit, but without the cloak and his mask only covered his eyes and nose, light, gray armor covering his body.

"Have you found her?" Sterling asked coldly, gripping his still bloody weapon tightly.

"We were able to track her movements to the east, but the trail goes cold around Vacuo."

Sterling growled loudly in frustration, "Fine. Gather a small infiltration group of our elites. No more than five of us, we can't attract undue attention at this point."

Sterling walked away from his underling, but instead of heading towards the exit, he went into one of the dark corners of the room. The shadows seemed to swirl as he approached, as if the hooded man was forcing them open. "We'll leave at dawn. It's time my sister returned what she stole from us," the dark cloaked man walked right into the wall and then through it, disappearing from view as the darkness enveloped him.

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 ** _A/N- DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN... Yeah, another arc down. Sorry it took so long to upload another part, but I suppose you're all used to this now. So, Sterling, been wanting to get to this guys introduction for a while, he will be our villain and resident asshat for the remainder of "Volume 1"._**

 ** _Plots are in motion, and things will only be getting more intense from, here on out!... I mean... hopefully? Probably a bad time to mention this since we're on chapter 15 now, but this is my first fan fic ever... so you're all dealing with a novice here. But it seems like a few of you are into this story, so I'll keep pumping this out, and hey if you feel up to posting a review letting me know what you like, or maybe you have a question, that'd be cool. It'd totally make my day too, soooooooo..._**

 ** _And hey! If you guys do give me some sweet sweet reviews I'll post a little bonus thing!... I'm not gonna like, hold it hostage from you or anything, because I'll end up posting it eventually, but a little feedback might get my fingers moving a little faster... hint hint..._**

 ** _Anyway, now that I've completely lost all credibility as an author, see you next chapter!_**


	16. MOONshot 1- Candle in the Wind

_**A/N- EY! This is just a little idea I had to keep you guys interested between updates. Moonshots are little side stories that kinda drift away from the main plot and I couldn't think of a way to fit it in otherwise. This particular one was actually done alongside a series of pics I did about a year ago, before this whole fan fiction became a thing. Is this technically the first thing I've ever written? Maybe, sure felt like it when I tried to edit it. It needed A LOT of work, but these little shots aren't meant to be award winning, so please excuse my lack luster grammar skills here, not that you aren't used to them by now ;P.** _

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 **MOONshot 1- Candle in the Wind**

On the western coast of the continent of Sanus, just beyond the deserts of Vacuo, lies a forest unlike any other on Remnant. It's host to thousands of unusual red barked, pale leafed trees, taller and thicker than most skyscrapers. They exist as one of the most renowned wonders of the world and would surely be quite the tourist attraction if it weren't for the fact that the woods these "Blood Oaks" grow in are also home to Grimm so savage and viscous that no one in their right mind would venture there. Most often the forest of Blood Oaks is vacant and as silent as a tomb, but today, a booming, carefree voice tore through the silence of this place...

"So the way I see it, if they didn't want me to take the whole tray of samples, they shouldn't have written 'free' on the sign. Now suddenly I'M the bad guy and-"

"Oran."

"Yeah, Nicky?"

"As much as I've enjoyed ignoring you for the last twenty minutes while you prattled on about whatever inane topic you were talking about, I think it's time to check our map."

Oran and Nichol were out on a "team building exercise" in the Blood Oaks as part of an assignment given by Professor Guava, much to the former's delight, and the latter's disdain. The task placed before them seemed simple on paper, collect the rare mushroom samples that only grew in this forest in the shadows of the massive trees. Team MOON, as well as the other first year students at Shade, had been split into groups of two with their partners, Oreonna and Maybelle were most likely off having a much easier -and probably less interesting- adventure. However, their orange and silver haired teammates seemed to have drastically underestimated the vastness of these woods and soon found themselves lost.

The lack of direction wasn't doing anything to ruin Oran's mood though, he was having the time of his life, not that he loved pestering his partner or anything... okay, maybe a little, but that wasn't the ENTIRE reason. The hyena boy lived to make people laugh and smile, and usually he could do so without barely breaking a sweat, but Nicky? Oh man, now there was a tough audience. He lived for the challenge though, it was a road littered with failures on his part, but he could feel himself of the verge of a breakthrough with his frosty partner. Fortunately for him, this assignment they'd been given provided the faunus with a whole days worth of opportunities.

Oran just really wanted his partner to be happy, that's all... nothing weird about that, right? Right!? Whatever, Nichol had a point though, they had a job to do; Collecting sap... or something... yeah, he hadn't exactly been paying attention when they'd told him. Regardless, it was time to get to work, and the canine eared jokester reached into his shorts pocket, "Alright, one map coming right-"

Oran's heart stopped when he felt the inside of his empty pocket. His scroll had the map on it, but where was his scroll? Probably on his nightstand back at Shade where he usually left it... crap. The hyena boy futilely tried to reach deeper into his pocket, desperately hoping that he might magically discover his misplaced device in between the pieces of lint he felt his fingers graze. Around then, Nichol started giving her partner one of her patented 'looks' and the hyena boy knew he had to come up with something, fast.

"H-hey! Who needs a map anyway?" Oran said sheepishly.

"What?" Nichol deadpanned, narrowing her eyes at the faunus.

"C'mon!" Oran reasoned, trying to disarm the aggravated time bomb he assumed was now ticking in Nichols head, "I'm a faunus! Look at me, I've got heightened hearing, enhanced sense of smell, and a natural sense of direction! I'm the complete navigational package!"

Nichol rolled her eyes, "You forgot to add delusional, annoying, and arrogant to that list." Ouch. Oran may be the faunus here, but Nicky was the one with claws. The orange haired teen smiled at his own joke, making my sure to catalog that one for later in his mind.

"Don't forget devilishly hands-" Oran stopped, his hyena ears twitching at a sudden noise in the trees. It sounded like a light breeze rustling the leaves... but there was no wind.

Nichol noticed Oran's sudden alertness, slowly reaching behind her back and grabbing her dust dispensing spear, "What is it?" she asked.

"Something's watching," Oran said, his Gust Bracers whirring to life as they switched to attack mode.

"Where?" Nichol asked lowly.

Oran closed his eyes, focusing all his senses on their unwelcome follower. Then his eyes snapped back open and he yelled in panic, "... Behind us!" The two hunters in training spun around to face... nothing...

After a moment Nichol growled loudly and glared at her partner, "Not funny," she said, re-sheathing her weapon and not even trying to hide the aggravation in her voice.

"I... could of swore..." Oran said confusedly, staring at the vacant space. The faunus boy was baffled, had he just been hearing things? There was a first time for everything he supposed... but he wasn't convinced. The canine teen's robotic prosthetic's began to quiet down as he relaxed his fists.

"Save it," The silver haired girl sighed loudly, reaching into her own pocket, "luckily one of us downloaded the map on their own scroll as well on the off chance her partner failed at his ONE JOB!" Nichol snapped at Oran, who flinched a bit at her tone. The silver haired teen pulled out her own scroll and began accessing her copy of the map. Oran felt incredibly embarrassed, he knew he'd screwed up big time on this mission, twice in a row even. He was just on edge is all, and who could blame him out here in the middle of-

Suddenly, something big, red, and slimy slammed into Nichols shoulder, encompassing it completely. The two students looked up to see the red mass was attached to a long appendage heading in the direction that Oran had sensed something. The two of them locked eyes, Nichol's wide in surprise and a hint of desperation, before the silver haired girl was yanked away.

Oran's mind went into overdrive as instinct took over, he fired off his gauntlets behind himself, launching him forward to catch up with his partner. Whatever had grabbed Nichol was fast, but the hyena boy was faster. The orange haired teen easily closed the distance and was able to hook one arm around Nichols midsection, and yank her free. Then, using his own momentum he spun around and with his free arm fired a powerful burst of wind dust in the direction the slimy appendage had come from. There was an inhuman screech from Oran's invisible target, but he never stopped to see what he hit, he pulled Nichol off the path and into the brush. The quick thinking faunus swung around one of the giant trees, pressing himself and Nichol against it. Then the hyena boy stopped, closed his eyes again, and listened, trying to focus in on their mysterious attacker.

"... Oran," Nichol said sounding slightly distraught.

"Shhhh! I'm trying to focus," Oran replied, furrowing his brow as he tried to block out his partners voice.

"ORAN!"

"What!- Oh..." Oran opened his eyes and saw that his body was currently pressed up against Nichols, pinning her back to the tree. The two of them were close... reeeeeally close... too close. Nichols orange eyes looked like they were actively trying to set the faunus on fire, and her cheeks were burning scarlet, perfectly matching Oran's at the moment if he had to guess.

Oran sprang back, freeing his teammate, "Ah! S-sorry Nicky! It's just- you know- I didn't-"

Nichol held up a hand, silencing Oran if only for a moment, then she took a deep breath, attempting to regain her composure, "Okay, first of all; That. Never happened. Understood?" Oran nodded dumbly, his own fluster dying down as well. "Good, now shut up and just tell me where to aim."

Awkwardness hung in the air, Oran knew he'd be catching hell for that later, his teammate hated to have her personal space invaded, that was a lesson he'd learned the hard way. It wasn't like he'd done it on purpose or anything! He just wanted to protect her! He didn't mean to get so close! I mean sure, he hadn't _hated_ it, his partner wasn't disgusting by any stretch of the imagination. Nichol actually smelled really nice and her eyes had a beautiful sheen to them that you could only really see up close and-

 _OKAY KILLING THAT TRAIN OF THOUGHT!_ Oran said to himself as he shook off the... surprising things he'd suddenly noticed. _  
_

Not wasting another word, Oran stepped around the tree to get a look at what they were dealing with. At first he didn't see anything, just an empty path, but then a shimmering of the air filled the space in the center of the trail. Suddenly, like a magician pulling away a cloak of invisibility, IT appeared.

Four long crooked legs supporting a body covered in black, shining scales stepped softly as it became visible. The Grimm was about as big as a truck, impressively quiet for a monster its size. Three long horns stuck out of its bone mask, at the end of its nose and above each of the creatures large, bulbous, red eyes, the dark pupils of which rotated out of sync as it searched for it's prey. Red markings covered its face and the rib-like bone outcropping's on its sides. On its back, a series of spikes ran down its spine up to its tightly curled tail. The creature stalked over to a nearby tree across the path, and with little effort began scaling the side of it. After reaching a branch the Grimm creepily turned its head to Oran, it's eyes continuing to rotate eerily until they suddenly focused on the orange haired hyena boy and the Grimm let out a low hiss before it completely disappeared again.

"Well? What did you see?" Nichol asked impatiently.

Oran didn't reply right away as he processed what he'd just seen, "Uhhhhh... well... the bad news is we're probably gonna die, but the good news is; I'm pretty sure we'll get extra credit for this."

* * *

 _ **1 week ago...**_

 _All four members of team MOON sat on the floor of their dorm room in a circle. Three of them were having a great time spending their evening with their friends and teammates, one of them was not. No bonus points for guessing who that was though._

 _Nichol anxiously tapped her fingers on the floor as she sat with her team, checking over her shoulder at the clock on the wall every few minutes, begging the time to move faster. Despite her silent plea though, the timepiece seemed to mock her by slowing the passage of events to a crawl. Her teammates were busy chatting and laughing away, their study session had been derailed by Oran's insistence on the newest topic; Team attack names._

 _Nichol had built up quite the tolerance to her team's trivial shenanigan's over the last week, but this conversation was a whole new level of absurd for her. Training she could get behind, honing her skills was entirely the reason she was here at Shade, but this was nothing but a childish waste of energy. Why anyone would willingly spend their time calling out such ridiculous names for attacks in a battle was beyond her, and yet, here she was, essentially a prisoner to this drivel for at least another 15 minutes._

 _"OH! OH! I GOT I!" Nichols orange haired teammate yelled out next to her, his volume making the silver haired girl narrow her eyes at him, "May and Oreo's attack name has to be 'Cookies and Cream'. It's too perfect!"._

 _"Ehhhhh... I don't know Oran," Oreonna protested, "that's not exactly an intimidating name. Can you really picture someone shouting, 'Look out! Team MOON is whipping out their dreaded 'Cookies and Cream' attack!" the cat girl said in a voice of mock terror, "I just think it should be a little threatening, right, May?" The black and white haired faunus said, looking to her partner for support._

 _Maybelle shrugged her broad shoulders and said, "I don't know, I think it's kind of cute." The cow-eared blonde gave her partner a wink._

 _"... it's not supposed to be cute..." The red faced Oreonna muttered under her breath as she suddenly found something very interesting to look at on the floor._

 _"Welp! That's two to one. Nicky? Your vote on the matter?" Oran said, looking at his own partner cheerfully._

 _Nichol scowled back, her partners upbeat attitude in spite of her own sour one never failed to get on the spear wielders nerves. "I abstain," she replied to the hyena boy in an emotionless tone. The sole human on team MOON turned to face her teams leader, Maybelle, "Can I go now?" she half pleaded, half demanded._

 _Maybelle took a moment to study her teammate, then looked to the clock on the wall. "It hasn't quite been an hour yet, Nichol,' she said, referring to the agreement Nichol had made with her leader just over a week ago, "stick it out for another fifteen minutes and you can go, okay?"_

 _Nichol sighed quietly. It was by no means an unfair compromise she'd found herself in, so she didn't have much ground to complain on. "Very well," she begrudgingly accepted._

 _These little meetings weren't always this bad, most of the time it was just studying, mainly Oreonna helping Maybelle. Which unfortunately left Nichol to tutor Oran, and much to her chagrin the faunus needed A LOT of help. She could endure those study sessions, as they provided a sense of progress at least, but the nights like this, where intellectual conversation devolved into mindless jokes and banter, that was grating on her nerves._

 _"Okay then, since Nicky's metaphorical stick is placed firmly in the mud," Oran said, his smile broadening as he saw Nichol glare at him out of the corner of his eye, "I guess 'Cookies and Cream' passes. Sorry, Oreo"._

 _Oreonna rolled her eyes. "I guess it is kind of cute..." she admitted._

 _"Then that leaves me and the Nickster. Don't worry Nicky, I already got the perfect name in mind," Oran reached over and wrapped an arm around Nichols shoulders. The silver haired girls eyes almost bugged out of her head in surprise at the unwanted physical contact. However, the hyena faunus seemed blissfully unaware as he waved his hand slowly in front of the two as if the words were magically appearing before them, "'Candle in the Wind'; it's when you do that thing we worked on where you stick your wand-spoon thing in the ground and... I..." Oran stopped when he saw the rage on Nichols face at his closeness, their faces only a few inches apart. Wisely, his self preservation instincts set in and he uncurled his arm from around her and scooted several feet away, "but... uh... I'm open to suggestions?... heh heh..." Oran chuckled nervously. The whole room went silent, Oreonna and Maybelle sat in shock, knowing that Oran had just crossed a line and things were about to get loud._

 _Nichol felt anger roaring inside her and through clenched teeth she spoke, "You want a suggestion? Here's a few," she stood up and got close to her faunus teammate, but in a much less cordial way compared to how Oran had just a moment ago. The fuming silver haired girl pointed her finger straight into the center of his sternum, "One; Never. Do that. Again." Nichol jabbed her finger into Oran's chest, making him recoil slightly, "Two; I would sooner die than ever, EVER call out one of your idiotic names in a battle. Lastly; This entire conversation is nothing but a colossal waste of my time, much like my partnership with you!"_

 _Nichol breathed heavily from her outburst. Then she began noticing the looks her teammates were giving her. Maybelle looked disappointed, Oreonna looked furious, and Oran, he just looked... hurt. For a moment Nichol thought she'd gone a bit too far, and a small amount of guilt began to creep into her._

 _Then Oran spoke; "So... how about 'No Laughing Platter'?"_

 _Nichol's brow furrowed as she sent a death glare at her partner, whose hurt expression had faded and he suddenly appeared completely unfazed by Nichols rant. Also, even more aggravating, he wouldn't. Stop. **SMILING AT HER!**_

 _Nichol felt another outburst building, but instead, she closed her eyes and sighed, much louder and more agitated than earlier. The orange eyed girl took a look up at the clock on the wall, "My times up. I'll be in the library."_

 _Not giving her teammates a chance for rebuttal, Nichol left the room, slamming the door behind her. It wasn't exactly a graceful exit, and truthfully she did feel a little embarrassed by her actions, but Oran knew better than to pull a stunt like that on her. Even though she hadn't meant to be so harsh on her teammate, she had been serious about one thing; Nichol would rather die than ever use such ridiculous attack names in battle._

* * *

"Take this, you overgrown son of a salamand- AHHHHHHHH!"

Nichol didn't even look back as Oran was sent reeling by the Grimm as it slammed it's tightly wound tail at the orange haired faunus. The silver haired warrior gripped her spear tightly in both hands as she threw a wave of fire dust at the demonic chameleon monster that had ambushed the two.

It was known as a Striker, the scales on it's skin were able to mimic the Grimm's surroundings, making it nearly invisible and very adept at sneak attacks. Not only that, but it was also incredibly versatile, as it demonstrated by leaping out of the way of Nichol's attack with a hiss.

This plan wasn't working, mainly because there had been no plan, the two hunters in training had just jumped out of cover and started throwing random attacks at this thing in a desperate bid at survival. The reptilian Grimm remained unfazed despite the assault of the two pf them and it reared back and let out another loud hiss as it's scales shimmered and it disappeared again.

"Dammit..." Nichol cursed, scanning the area for signs of the beast. "Oran! Are you still alive over there?" she shouted over her shoulder.

A voice called back groggily, "Ugh... grandma, no more cookies... I hate oatmeal raisin..."

Nichol rolled her eyes, close enough, she supposed. Like it or not, she needed Oran's faunus senses to figure out where this thing was attacking from. It was nice that he was finally pulling his weight in a fight form once... not counting the time he'd saving her earlier... a fact Nichol was still trying to wrap her head around.

Her orange haired teammate never made any sense to Nichol, so why should he start now? All she ever did was berate, yell, and glare at Oran, but the faunus never outwardly showed any ill will towards his partner. He may never say anything about it to her face, but Nichol had to assume that behind that smiling, friendly facade he always wore, Oran had to secretly resent her for how she treated him. The incident that had taken place a week ago in team MOON's dorm came to mind as a prime example. Oran could smile and laugh off what had happened all he wants, but Nichol had seen the hurt in his eyes at her words, there was no hiding that. And yet, despite this, when she'd been at her most careless and vulnerable, Oran had chosen to save her without hesitation... but why? And more importantly, would Nichol have done the same in a reverse scenario? The answer; 'Of course' came far too quickly for Nichol to not be shocked by it. When had she started caring so much about a faunus? Why would one save her? Why did Oran always want to spend time with her? It never made any sense! He never made sense! Why couldn't he just hate her? It'd make things so much easier for everyone.

Strangely, Nichol found her mind wandering to the brief moment the two of them had shared, pressed up against the Blood Oak. It wasn't that the silver haired teen hated physical contact, she was just... unused to it. It brought up uncomfortable thoughts and feelings that Nichol had spent her life trying to repress and she found it all rather... confusing.

The silver haired girl shook her head to regain focus _. Ugh. NOT THE TIME FOR THIS,_ Nichol yelled at herself internally, _Kill this thing first, deal with these emotions... never, ideally._

Back on the task at hand, Nichol had an idea of how to beat this Grimm, but she'd have to discuss the strategy with Oran first, which there was absolutely no time for. If only they had a way of communicating strategies in a battle without-

Realization of the irony hit her like a truck, and she groaned in frustration. Nichol weighed her options; slight embarrassment, or a grizzly death?

...

The spear wielder actually had a hard time deciding, but eventually she conceited. She knew would never hear the end of this from Oran. "Just tell me where it is!" Nichol shouted at her recovering teammate.

"Yes ma'am," Oran halfheartedly saluted as he rose from the crater he'd made on impact with the ground. He scanned the area before shouting, "Ten o'clock!"

Without hesitation, Nichol turned and was barely able to dodge the slimy tongue that was shot at her. With a quick flourish of her spear, the orange eyed huntress lobbed the sticky appendage clean off. The Striker roared in pain, momentarily stunned as black ichor sprayed from the stump hanging out it's mouth. Then Nichol fired a stream of ice from her spears tip at the area beneath the Grimm's feet. The creature let out a growl of frustration as ice covered it's lower half, freezing it in place. The Striker began struggling in it's icy prison immediately, and cracks were already starting to appear in the ice. They didn't have long, it was now or never. Nichol slammed her weapons hilt into the earth before her, the mechanism's inside the dust chamber at the top began spinning until they settled on the red stripe below the bladed edge. A large plume of dust powered fire burned a sinister red out of the tip of the weapon, the Grimm had managed to work one of it's claws free and reached menacingly towards Nichol's prone form as she knelt in front of it.

After another short moment of mental preparation for the mortifying moment, Nichol looked over her shoulder and shouted, "ORAN!"

Still a little disoriented from the fall, Oran's ears perked up as his partner yelled out,

 _ **"CANDLE IN THE WIND!"**_

Nichol watched as Oran's eyes lit up in joy. A humongous smile overtook his face, and oddly, Nichol found it hard to resist a smile of her own at his response. Not that she'd ever let the hyena boy know -or see- that, as she quickly turned her head away from him.

Oran crouched low and then leapt towards Nichol, soaring through the air with one of his arms pulled back ready to deliver a punch. A swirl of wind dust wrapped around his fist, covering it in a light, blueish energy as his bracers whirred loudly. The Striker lurched towards the two of them, it's stump of a tongue hanging out of it's mouth as it growled in fury and the ice binding it started to shatter. Nichol remained steadfast in the face of the coming danger, she held her ground with her spear in front of her, unnaturally red flame at it's tip, as Oran soared above her, she closed her eyes to protect them from what she knew was coming next.

The hyena boy let out a yell as he thrust his fist at the flame, firing all the wind dust he'd built up into it's source. The fire and wind, combined with the force of the punch turned the torch into a roaring inferno that went straight at the still partially trapped Striker, much like an improvised flamethrower. The Grimm barely let out a howl of agony as the massive flame consumed it completely. After a moment the heat disbursed, leaving only a charred, barely recognizable corpse in it's place that collapsed to the ground, dead.

Oran landed on his feet and bent over placing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. For once he was less than enthusiastic about his faunus heritage as his enhanced sense of smell ensured that every intake of air he took was filled with the noxious scent of the charred Grimm remains disintegrating in front of his partner and himself.

Nichol rose from her crouched position, dusting the dirt off her knees with her free hand and returning her weapon to her back holster with the other. The attack had been obviously effective, but the amount of dust required to pull off the maneuver meant it had to be used only in the most desperate of scenarios.

Oran studied his teammate for a quick moment. He'd noticed in there time together that Nichol seemed to go around with a metaphorical rain cloud over her head, she carried herself with an air of angst, unease, and slight paranoia whenever she was walking the hallways of Shade or even when she was being forced to spend time with her team. However, in brief moments like this, around the thrill of battle she looked almost calm, serene even, the most comfortable Oran had ever seen her. She really was a warrior through and through, the battlefield was were she felt most at home, and it was clear she enjoyed it. Oran smiled as he watched his partner bask in the afterglow of the battle and absentmindedly brush a hand through her short silver hair.

Of course, all this unwarranted staring got the attention of Nichol. She turned to face Oran, her features returning borderline hostile and guarded as she looked at her teammate. "What?" she asked bluntly.

Oran's smile bloomed into an even bigger one, "I was just gonna ask if you ordered your Grimm flambéed or extra crispy?" Nichol rolled her eyes at the hyena boy, "Aw come on, Nicky. We kicked scaley butt together, admit it."

Nichol looked away before murmuring, "... I suppose we did." Oran did not fall to notice his partners lips twitch upward as she turned her head. Not a full smile, but he'd take it as a victory today.

Oran raised a fist, intending to deliver a light congratulatory punch on the arm to Nichol, but stopped when he remembered the incident the two had earlier that week regarding Nichols personal space preference. So his hand just kind of hung in the air awkwardly for a moment as the two stood in silence, until Oran tried to play it off like he was reaching up to scratch the back of his head. Nichol gave him an unconvinced look though, clearly he wasn't as smooth as he thought he was.

"Heh... so... we better get back to the group before we're presumed dead and May and Oreo get sent to avenge our deaths or whatever..." Oran said dejectedly. The faunus turned to walk away and got several steps before he noticed his partner wasn't following.

Nichol remained in place, looking at the last remnants of Grimm carcass as they disappeared before her. She looked conflicted, like something was on her mind, and before Oran could ask what it was he heard Nichol mutter something under her breath, "...rry."

Even with his enhanced hearing, Oran couldn't quite make out what she had said. "What's that?" he asked.

Nichol snapped back, "I said-" she stopped a moment to calm her tone a bit, "I'm sorry... for yelling at you... earlier this week I mean. What I said was uncalled for."

This caught Oran a bit off guard. It wasn't the first apology he'd received from his partner, but it felt different this time, more... genuine? That seemed like the wrong word to the hyena faunus, but it was the best he could come up with. A part of him wanted to laugh this all off, maybe throw in a dumb joke like usual, but he looked at Nichol and he could see how hard this was for her to admit. She was genuinely sorry, and somehow, this stirred up a moment of seriousness from deep within the usually un-serious Oran.

"Hey, it's okay, I crossed a line, again, and I did kind of give you permission to call me out on that stuff. You don't have to apologize," Oran said, resting his hands behind his head.

Nichol sighed, "I know how I am, Oran. I can be perhaps... overly judgemental of others... putting it lightly, I'd imagine." Once again, Oran found himself holding back sarcastic responses. God, being sincere was hard, but Nichol needed to get this off her chest, so he resisted the urge. Nichol continued, "I just... I know I'm not the easiest person to have as a partner. You've been more than patient with me, and I... appreciate that," Nichol admitted begrudgingly, clearly this tone of conversation was not one she was well versed in. She shuffled awkwardly in place as Oran thought of a reply to this surprisingly uncharacteristic confession from his teammate.

Oran stepped closer to her, "Look Nicky- er, Nichol, we are how we are, okay? And I'm never gonna force you to be something you aren't. That's what friends do, right?" Oran gave his teammate an enthusiastic smile, defusing a bit of the mood in the air. "And as far as partners go, I could have done a hell of a lot worse. I mean, I could be stuck with an annoying slacker who makes dumb jokes all the time, that'd suck, huh?" And there it was, the old Oran couldn't be restrained any longer. Honestly it was impressive he'd held off as long as he did.

Nichol stared at Oran for a moment before she closed her eyes and shook her head in... amusement?! Wait, his partner had emotions besides angry and bored?!

 _Oh my god! Is this happening!? Is this real life?_ Oran thought to himself in disbelief.

"Yes, I suppose that would be absolutely dreadful," Nichol said, a hint of mirth in her voice, and Oran felt like his heart was about to explode with pride.

Nichol pulled her scroll back out and with a few quick taps brought up her map, "In any case, I think it's time we get to our actual job, we still have to collect our fungi after all." With that, the silver haired huntress in training walked past her faunus teammate and back onto the path through the Blood Oaks. Oran was still a little awestruck by the recent events, but after another quick shake of his shaggy head, he began following in his partners footsteps.

They made it a few steps before Oran enhanced sense of hearing picked up one more surprise that day. The ambient noises of the forest were covering it up, and Nichol wasn't even facing him when she said it, and when she did it was so quiet that no normal human would have been able to hear it, but with Oran's extra set of ears, he could just barely make it out,

"... Thank you."


	17. Fixing What's Broken

**Chapter 17-Fixing What's Broken**

Change can be a strange thing. It can happen so gradually that you don't even notice it until a shocking moment of revelation leaves you wondering just how far you've come.

Nichol had experienced a great deal of change over the last four weeks at Shade Academy. For example; she'd started sleeping in her assigned bed in her dorm, attending team meetings without having to constantly be badgered and reminded, and she was even contributing to the conversation at said meetings. However, Nichol dismissed all of these occurrences as necessary "inconveniences" to maintain her good standing under the headmistress's watchful eyes. The silver haired girl would never acknowledge the changes she'd undergone, but then she stared wanting to read again.

To be clear, Nichol knew HOW to read just fine, quite well if her test scores were any indication, but she saw it as a skill used solely to gain knowledge and skill, not for recreation. Everything she read was strictly designed to further her own goals of taking down Sterling, but the book currently secured under her arm as she closed the door to her teams room held no such value.

The hard, blue cover was mostly blank on both sides, with only a few words of gold printed on the spine and cover. "The Lost Melody" was etched into the front of the book, with a single musical note just above it.

It had all started innocently enough, Nichol had been in Shade's expansive library when the title caught her eye. At first the silver haired girl had been able to ignore it, the fleeting feeling of interest that had sparked inside her was easily extinguished, and the silver haired girl finished her work for the day and left. As far as Nichol thought, that was the end of it, but she was wrong. The next day, she went back to the library for more schoolwork and despite her resistance, she found her focus drawn even more so towards the book. Nichols orange eyes would drift from her text book up to the shelf with the blue spine of "The Lost Melody" staring back. Nichol did not get much work done that day, but before she left the library, she walked over to the bookshelf. There was a strange almost nervousness in her approach, the silver haired girl slowly raised her hand, fingers outstretched as they reached towards the tome that seemed to be antagonizing her. Then Nichol stopped, shook her head and then marched away in a huff, no doubt anyone who'd witnessed this bizarre scene would have been understandably confused. This little back and forth went on for an embarrassing number of days before Nichol finally was fed up and checked the damn book out, slamming it onto the table and startling the elderly librarian.

Normally the spear wielding student would never succumb to such an urge, but lately she'd been finding herself with just more and more time on her hands, despite her busy schedule. Homework provided little challenge, she trained as much as physically possible without over-straining herself, even her required "team time" -as Maybelle had so elegantly named it- only took up about an hour or so of her day. Plus, Nichol had finished serving her detention sentence for the Angus incident, and now she found herself with an absolutely insufferable amount down time. So in order to quell the unending torment that "free time" provided, Nichol had relented to taking up reading in a more... recreational sense.

The silverette wasn't overly shocked to have stumbled back into the old hobby, she'd actually been an avid reader during her childhood. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nichol hadn't been very adept at making friends growing up, so books were an easy escape for her. Her mother only fed the addiction, and the two of them read together a lot when she was younger, they were some of Nichols favorite memories. She would even go so far as to say that she'd once loved reading, but then her mother had been murdered by a man she'd trusted, and suddenly the silver haired girl didn't see much reason to love anything anymore.

That all had nothing to do with today though, right now she had her book in her hands, she propped herself up on her bed with her back up against the headboard, a pillow supporting her, and perhaps best of all; her dorm was completely empty. After their usual team meeting, Oreonna and Maybelle had gone off for some training. Nichol wasn't one to usually notice such things, but it seemed like the two faunus' were spending an awful lot of time together these days, like they were attached at the hip or something. It didn't have anything to do with Nichol however, so she didn't spare it a second thought. Her partner Oran was exactly where Nichol always wanted him to be; anywhere but near her.

The orange eyed girl felt a twinge of guilt at the perhaps overly harsh thought. For what it was worth, the hyena boy had made efforts to be ever so slightly less of a bother recently. Even the mandatory study sessions Nichol had coerced into were showing signs of progress, despite the faunus nuisances' constant lack of attention. Keeping Oran on track was a full time job in and of itself, but his grades did seem to be improving, so at the very least it didn't seem to be a complete waste of her time. Still, despite these welcome changes in her faunus partners behavior, Nichol was glad she was able to have moments like this every once in a while, time to herself to unwind after a stressful day.

So the silver haired teenager settled into place and opened her book in her lap and began to-

"NICKY!"

Nichol barely flinched as the door to team MOON's dorm was practically flung off it's hinges. Honestly by this point she could almost expect this kind of thing to happen. The orange eyed girl didn't even look up from her book, getting barely a sentence into it. "For the millionth time, it's Nichol, you insufferable creature," she said in what she knew would be a futile reminder to the faunus shaped headache now standing at the foot of her bed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah- listen, I need a favor. I need-"

"Oran," Nichol interrupted her partner sternly, "I've already helped you with your homework, had our study session, and gone over your notes from class, so unless this is a matter of life or-"

It was then that Nichol looked up to see her partner holding out his left hand, the mechanical appendage twitching and contorting at the wrist and fingers sporadically to a chorus of robotic whirs and clicks. "Sooooo, I don't know if this counts as life or death," Oran said with a nervous smile. "Well, I guess it might be if I tried to high five someone right now, or scratch my-"

"Stop." Nichol said as she closed her eyes in frustration, shutting her book loudly and placing it next to her as calmly as she could manage at the moment." "First off; how?"

"I didn't do anything!" the hyena faunus swore, "They just... I don't know, do this sometimes." Oran studied his malfunctioning hand curiously, "Good news is, I think I know how to fix it. Bad news? I need another set of hands. But! Also good news; that's what I have you for!" he added excitedly.

"NO. No you do not have me for that," Nichol replied, deflating Oran's posture slightly. "If it's so easy to fix, do it yourself. You still have one perfectly good-" The frustrated girl was cut off again when Oran showed his other prosthetic arm, whose hand was, as Nichols luck would have it, also wiggling mechanically in a broken manner. The silver haired warrior sighed, "Okay, in that case, why not ask Oreonna or Maybelle or -I don't know- absolutely anyone else in this school with a shred of mechanical knowledge?"

Oran waved off the idea with one of his malfunctioning hands. "Don't sell yourself short, Nicky. You made your weapon, didn't you? And it's awesome, one the best I've ever seen! So in my eyes, that makes you pretty damn qualified."

Nichol felt a chill run through her. "Right, I did make that..." she lied. Truth was, she had no idea how the weapon she wielded with such proficiency worked. She was trained in a wide variety of weaponry even before coming to Shade, as well as dust based combat, but her spears inner workings were a complete mystery to the runaway, and she couldn't let anyone know, lest she create any suspicion. All she knew was that it was powerful, and that was all the reason she needed to make sure Sterling didn't have it.

"Plus, no offense to Oreo or May... but I trust you," Oran's unexpected words hit Nichol like a truck. He trusted her?

 _... You shouldn't..._ was the immediate thought in Nichols head. If Oran had any idea of the kind of things she'd done to his kind, to the faunus people, if **any** of Nichols team members ever found out about the bodies she'd left in her wake back in those days...

While the spear wielder was still reeling from Oran's confession, the hyena boy seemed to mistake the silence for a refusal, "Okay, okay, how 'bout I sweeten the deal," the orange haired faunus said with a desperate smile, "no bad jokes for a week, I swear." Nichol still couldn't reply as she was still struggling to comprehend how Oran could possibly feel that way about her. "Still no? Fine, how abooooout... no social interaction at all? Seriously, I'll leave you alone for a whole week if you help." Nichol finally snapped back to reality with the now blathering Oran, "Well, what if I-"

"Shut up," Nichol snipped, massaging her temple with one hand. She knew Oran well enough by now to know he wasn't going to give up, and if she ever wanted to get to reading her book in peace she was better off just getting this over with. "Fine," Nichol relented.

Oran looked ecstatic at this. No doubt if the faunus boy had a tail instead of his canine-like ears, it would have been wagging in excitement. "All right! This is gonna be- oops," Oran said covering his mouth with his forearm, having already forgotten the terms of the agreement he had just made.

 _He lasted as long as he could, I suppose,_ Nichol thought with a hint of amusement. The silver haired girl rolled her eyes at her partner, "And just how do you intend to tell me how to fix your hands if you don't talk, you daft buffoon?"

"Oh... right," Oran said sheepishly, "I guess we'll start that part of the deal afterwards." Begrudgingly, Nichol put her book away as she scooted off her bed. She wasn't thrilled to have to spend extra time with her partner, but the thought of a quiet week being her reward was an intriguing incentive. Oran motioned over to the doorway enthusiastically, "In that case, to the workshop!" he said dramatically, extending one of his broken spasming hands to lead the way as the faunus marched out of the room.

Nichol had to consciously resist a smile at how ridiculous the gesture looked. She swore, her partner acted like such a fool sometimes. The spear wielder followed Oran out of the room and down the hallways of Shade. Thoughts of how productive a week without such inane prater from her teammate would be what got her through the next few hours. She wasn't so sure Maybelle would let the negotiation between her partner and herself stand, but their leader really didn't have any say in the matter, she supposed. Not that Nichol was worried or anything, Oran had promised to leave her be for a week in exchange for this favor, and she trusted him to keep his-

Nichol froze in the hallway. She what? She trusted Oran? When the hell had that started? If the silver haired girl had been floored by her partner admitting he trusted her, then this new revelation sent Nichol through the floor and down into the planets core.

Sure, she'd spent a lot more of her days with her team in recent weeks, Oran in particular. The two of them studied together, trained together, honestly, she probably spent more time in his company than anyone else in the whole school, than anyone in a long time if she was honest, but did she really trust him so effortlessly? The thought had come so quickly she hadn't even realized it. Her mind went back to the Blood Oaks just a few days ago, when the two of them had taken down that formidable Grimm together through teamwork and skill, without each other there would have been no way they'd have survived.

"Nichol?" Oran said having stopped as well and was looking back at his still paralyzed partner. "You okay? You look kinda like your brain broke."

"It's nothing, I'm fine. Let's get this over with," Nichol stammered out, suddenly feeling oddly flustered under Oran's gaze. She hadn't trusted a single person since Sterling, and certainly never a faunus. Yet, somehow the orange haired hyena boy had managed to worm his way into Nichols head. The silverette found that... unsettling. What was happening to her here? How had she let her guard down so easily without her noticing?

No, this wasn't a problem, not yet anyway. Nichol merely had to be twice as cautious from now on. The worst thing the spear wielder could do was get attached to these people, all that would do was create another weakness for Sterling to exploit. She had to stay focused, distant, she'd become adept at that over the years, surely doing the same with her teammates would be just as simple a task... right?

Oran continued studying his partner with a concerned look. He brought his hand up to stroke his chin in what would have been a thoughtful expression, if his malfunctioning hand hadn't basically slapped him in the face when it got close. Nichols usually steel resolve cracked and her lips quivered up into a smirk. The silver haired girl covered her mouth quickly and turned away. Thankfully the hyena boy seemed too preoccupied scolding his own hand for hitting him to notice. Oran turned and continued on his way while Nichol followed letting out a harsh sigh. She could tell it was going to be a long night.

* * *

There are two places in Shade Academy where fighting among students was permitted. First and foremost was the Coliseum; a grand stage of pomp and circumstance, a place for huntsmen and huntresses skills to be put on display for their peers to see. The other place was the Arena, and what it lacked in spectacle it made up for in intimacy. It wasn't fancy by any stretch of the imagination, just a small circular ring and a few bland wooden bleachers for students to observe from on the outside edges of the walls. It definitely wasn't as big as the Coliseum, but that desert covered stage was meant primarily for team battle exercises, the more compact Arena on the other hand, was strictly for one on one bouts. Also, unlike it's larger counterpart, the Arena was open to students day or night, as long as they had faculty permission, and as it just so happened, two teammates were preparing for a bit of sparring that evening.

Oreonna inspected the sharp edge of Symphonic Discord's bow sword before giving the blade a practice swing, the weapon making a satisfying "swish" as it cleaved the air. The cat girl stood at the edge of the ringed circle covering most of the Arena's wooden floor, in the center, the symbol for Shade Academy was painted into the sturdy oak, sitting directly between Oreonna and her opponent, Maybelle, on the opposite side of the ring.

The cow faunus held Alexandra Grande out in front of her, the massive clubs golden accents shined brightly under the Arena's lights hanging above. May looked at her partner/opponent with an eager expression, these little sparring matches between them had become a regular part of the two students routine, much to Oreonna's delight.

Learning in a classroom and training were one thing, but there was just something about one on one sparring that Oreonna found so fulfilling, in a way no amount of simulations or classwork could compete. That, and spending time with May was always a plus in her book, and she had a feeling both of them could use the distraction from the problems of the last few weeks.

Angus' straight up thrashing at the hands of Nichol hadn't kept him quiet for long. Either word had gotten out about what he'd said during his confrontation with team MOON, or the bull faunus just had a big mouth. Oreonna was willing to believe both, but either way, people were starting to talk about her bovine leader, and not in a flattering way. The violinist couldn't imagine how hard this all must be for May, going through all of this again after what had happened to her at Vast with Chleo.

The black and white haired faunus felt a twitch of anger go through her just from thinking that girls name. Whoever this "Chleo" was, she'd definitely earned herself a spot on Oreo's "If they were to get mauled by an Ursa I'd have to stop and think about it before saving them" list, but that wasn't important right now.

The rumors had spread quickly among the students at Shade. May had been getting sideways glances, and whenever she entered a room, people would start whispering about her. Luckily Maybelle lacked the enhanced hearing most faunus had, so she was spared most of the remarks, but thanks to the sensitive cat ears on Oreonna's head, she'd heard every word. It broke the cat girls heart whenever she overheard the horrible things her uninformed classmates were saying about her partner.

The only silver lining of this whole mess was, despite his loose lips, Angus had made himself scarce ever since the aforementioned beat-down Nichol had bestowed upon him. Oreonna was almost grateful to the silver haired maniac, not that she'd ever say that to her face.

Despite this, the cat girl could tell the last few weeks had been hard for Maybelle, and she felt there was nothing she could do about it except just stand firm at her teammates side, to let her know she wasn't alone this time. Oreonna knew the truth about what had happened, and after a little coaxing, she was able to convince May to tell the rest of the team too, even Nichol. Predictably, the reserved girl showed little emotion at Maybelle's tale, but she had at least stayed to hear her leader out, much to Oreonna's surprise. Then, she'd just kind of nodded and mumbled something like, "Don't concern yourself with the monsters that wound you. Only on the ones to come," and then Nichol had left the room.

Oran's response had been much more typical, though the hyena boy had taken the reveal a bit harder seeing as how he'd been at Vast while May was going through this. The orange haired joker had been a little clingy around May after that, sighting "past due, cheer up laughs" as his reasoning behind it. Oran seemed determined to make up for his ignorance to his leaders plight back then. He was a good friend, but Oreonna had figured that out about her orange haired teammate a while ago.

So now all the members of her team knew, and that meant that no matter how much other people distrusted her for these awful rumors, or said terrible things behind her back, May would always have people around her that knew the truth and wouldn't abandon her. Also Nebula and Gwen, as well as the rest of team NDGO, had declared they also had the cow girls back. The two teams had even started eating lunch together in the cafeteria, well, except for Nichol, which was unsurprising to Oreonna. Still, the cat girl was happy to see her own friend count growing as time went by, Shade was slowly starting to feel like a second home to her.

"Hey, Oreo?" May asked resting her giant club on her shoulder as she gave Oreonna a confused look, "Are you ready to start? You've been swinging your sword at nothing for like, a minute now."

The smaller faunus snapped back to reality, "Y-yeah! Just testing the uh... you know... the wind... resistance on the uh... blade?.."

Even from across the room, Oreonna could hear May's giggle at her admittedly terrible excuse, and the cat girl couldn't help but laugh back in embarrassment. It was time to get serious, Oreonna gave her head a shake as her vision focused entirely on her partner on the other side of the ring. She knew May wouldn't go down easy, they'd sparred like this so many times now that the violinist knew better than to underestimate the cow girl, even though Oreonna had won most of these matches so far... not that she was keeping count or anything!...

Okay, maybe she was, but who could blame her for partaking in a little... competitive spirit, especially with the Vytal tournament coming up in just a few short months. Oreonna was excited not only to compete, but to show her dad and Yang back home just how far she'd come. Vale was in for a shock when the new and improved Oreo returned to dominate in the competition!... Okay, maybe she was getting over-excited about this...

"Alright then, let's get started," May said as she pulled out her scroll, which had been synced with the arena's systems, and with a press of the screen an automated countdown started on the speakers around the ring.

The giant display above the two of them lit up with both of the students portraits as well as a green bar to show their aura levels. "3..." an automated voice said over the sound system. Oreo gripped her sword tightly. "2..." the cat faunus brought her violin shield up to her chin, the bow blade in her other hand hovering over the strings, eager to play. "1..." May crouched slightly and Oreonna saw her own mistake too late as she realized what was coming.

"BEGIN!"

Just as Oreo had predicted, the blonde berzerker launched herself towards her opponent using her semblance to make herself lighter and clear the gap in an instant. The next thing the cat faunus knew, May was in front of her, a manic smile on her lips and her club reared back to deliver a crushing blow. Oreonna managed to roll to the side just before the cow girl obliterated the spot she'd been standing in. The violinist scolded herself for getting too anxious and telegraphing that she had been about to start this battle with a song. Now May was keeping her on the defensive so she didn't have time to play anything. It was a sound strategy, but Oreonna was far from a one trick pony.

Maybelle continued her assault with another mighty swing, which her partner easily flipped out of the way of. Oreonna knew her leaders attacks were a force to be reckoned with, a single strike on the small cat girl would probably be enough to send her aura into the red, costing her the match. However, if Oreonna was anything, it was nimble, which she demonstrated with a one handed cartwheel off her shield and over a horizontal swipe from Alexandra Grande.

The black and white haired girl thought back to her final exam at Signal, May's heavy attacks weren't all together different from the construct Beringrel she'd faced, though she doubted her partner would appreciate the comparison. Much like back then though, Oreonna closed her eyes, brought her violin back up and started to play, all the while elegantly twisting and twirling out of the way of her friends blows. As usual, music came to the cat faunus as easy as breathing and Symphonic Discord's melody rang out over the loud slams of Alexandra Grande against the Arena floor.

"No -ugh- fair!" May shouted between swings, a competitive smile beaming on her face now, "That's -grr- cheating, Oreo!"

Oreonna couldn't help but giggle in response and after dodging a particularly nasty blow that cracked the ground, the cat girl sprang away from her teammate and landed on her feet as four small wisps of flame started to dance around her. With devilish grin, Oreo thrust her sword in May's direction and at her command the fireballs launched towards the cow faunus.

May reacted quickly with a wide swing, deflecting most of the fireballs, except for the last one, which Oreo had put the most force behind. With the orb of heat rocketing towards her, Maybelle had no choice but to bring her weapon up in front of her to block as the fire dust spell collided with her club in an orange explosion. May had managed to protect herself from most of the damage, but the distraction was just what Oreonna needed to get in close. The smoke created by the explosion was the perfect cover for the quick footed faunus.

The shorter girl delivered several quick slashes to the stunned cow faunus' side before slamming her shield's tightly wound, dust infused strings against her opponents midsection. The instrument's highly sensitive wires reacted to the impact with a push of force that sent Maybelle skidding backwards.

Ultimately Oreo's attack seemed to do negligible damage to May's rather impressive aura. A few sparks of gold energy with each hit were the only sign she'd even touched her partner. To make matter worse, now Oreonna put herself in range for May's counterattack. In the blink of an eye, May leapt into the air and was coming straight down on top of the violinist with her club.

Oreo was fast on her feet, but even she knew it would be impossible to outpace Maybelle once she'd gotten airborne, let alone dodge a downward strike aimed squarely at her face. There was no flipping out of the way this time, and even if Oreonna did get her shield up, there was no way she'd be able to block this. So that diminutive faunus chose a third option, one that was available to her and her alone.

A bright flash of light lit up the arena as May's club slammed into the ground between the two Oreonna's that had appeared, sending the, once one, now two cat girls flying apart from each other as the bell on May's weapon let out an ear-splitting "BONG!".

The two halves of the cat faunus could feel the telltale headache as the distance between them grew. May was surprised by Oreonna's tactics at first, but she knew her partner well enough to know that if one half of her took too much damage, the two would reform. The cow girl saw the white haired Oreo had fallen down following the shock-wave from May's slam and she moved in to attack only to be cut off by the darker version of her teammate who stepped in front of it's counterpart protectively, the blade half of Symphonic Discord wielded in two hands in front of her. The black cat eared Oreonna sneered angrily then leapt at Maybelle in defense of it's white cat tailed other half, the larger girl effortlessly deflecting the sword strike with an unimpressed look. The half a cat girl continued her relentless assault with battle cries following each hit that May blocked, until the cow faunus grazed her with a swing from her club and the smaller faunus was forced to back off. However, the retreat was just a distraction, as May felt something crash into her from behind as the lighter version of Oreonna slammed into the cow girl with her violin shield while slipping past and rejoining her lookalike.

Rather than refusing, the two cat girls decided to use the numbers game to their advantage, they had a better chance of keeping the pressure on Maybelle together and hopefully keeping her out of the air. The duo seemed to communicate this plan without even needing to speak as they both dashed at the cow girl, slashing her with the bow sword and the sharp edges of their violin shield at the same time. May did her best to block the attacks, but with the two copies hitting her from different directions she still was taking damage as her aura was slowly being depleted. With the pair seemingly in perfect sync with each other, it looked like Maybelle was about to be overwhelmed under the pressure of the speedier cat girls. Not wasting another second, the Oreonna's jumped back and then leapt forward in sync striking the tall blonde in a cross formation, the ferocity of the attack making May actually stagger under the force as her aura dropped into the orange.

One more big attack, that's all it would take for Oreonna to win this thing, and she knew just the move to do it. Suddenly, both cat girls stopped attacking as they stood right in front of May. There was a hint of hesitation on the cow girls face, before she went for another heavy horizontal swing hoping to take out both her opponents at once. The two cat faunus' smiled simultaneously as Maybelle took the bait and like a synchronized dance, the two effortlessly leapt over the swing, then, before her leader could prepare another attack, the two Oreonna's fused back into one with another blinding flash of light that went right in Maybelle's eyes.

The idea of using the activation of her semblance as a distraction was one Oreonna had only recently come up with, and she wondered why she never thought of it sooner. It's effect was basically the same as a flash-bang grenade, however it was only truly effective at close range, which made it risky, that and it wasn't like she could fuse and refuse over and over again without some kind of break in between, but seeing the effects in action proved it could be worth the dangers. This was the first time the cat girl had used it in a battle scenario and as May's hand went up to cover her eyes, she couldn't help but be pleased with the results.

The blonde faunus recoiled with a cry of shock at the display of light, and in that moment Oreonna saw her opening. The cat faunus pounced towards her stunned partner, sword raised high to deliver the finishing blow. _I'm faster than her_ , the cat girl thought to herself, _there's no way May can lift her weapon to swing again in time to-_

Suddenly Maybelle smirked up at her teammate, and time seemed to slow to a crawl as a golden light enveloped Alexandra Grande and the cow girls formerly heavy club was swung like it weighed next to nothing at all. Oreonna's heart sank as she witnessed the sudden phenomenon in front of her, how was May doing that? More importantly, she realized she'd left herself wide open in the air. The black and white haired faunus made a last ditch effort to get her shield up, though she imagined it hardly mattered at this point, as Maybelle's massive wooden club slammed into Oreonna's side.

The diminutive cat girl let out a gasp of pain as her aura was completely shattered and she was sent flying. The last thing she saw being one of the arena's walls as she crashed into it. Then everything went black.

...

...

...

...

...

"...reo..."

"Oreo..."

"Oreonna! Oh my god! Please wake up!"

Oreonna's her pink eyes fluttered open. "Uuuugghh..." The dazed faunus groaned as she regained consciousness. The first thing the cat girl saw was the blurry shadow of May kneeling over her at her side looking like she was having a panic attack.

"Oreonna! Holy crap! I am so sorry! I didn't think- I just-" May stopped rambling and took a breath to calm herself, "Are you okay? Can you move?"

"I... think so... what happened?" Oreo's blurry vision started to clear as she looked up to see the large, almost comically cat girl shaped imprint in the wall above her. Had she done that? Just how hard had she been hit? Questions for later, right now it was time to assess the damage.

Oreonna flexed her toes inside her black boots, stretched her glove covered fingers in and out, and gave her tail a quick wag. Everything seemed to be working okay, at least she didn't have any numbness. All in all, she felt okay so far, well, aside from the massive headache she had, though considering what had happened, the smaller faunus felt like she got lucky.

"I'm okay, I think," Oreonna relayed to Maybelle. The cow faunus sighed in relief before plopping off her knees and onto her butt on the floor next to her partner. "How long was I out?" the still groggy cat girl asked.

"Long enough to seriously freak me the hell out, but only for about a minute or so," May said looking incredibly guilty as she took in her teammates prone form. "Seriously, Oreo, I'm so SO sorry about that. I didn't realize how hard I was swinging and by the time I did I couldn't stop and I've never tried to do anything like that with my semblance before and-"

Oreonna put a hand up to stop Maybelle as she went to sit up. "May, don't worry about it, really, I'm ok- AH!" The cat faunus cried out in agony as a stab of pain shot through her side when she tried to move. The cow girl next to her jumped at the sound as the violinist fell back to the floor, gripping her ribs on the side she'd taken her teammates attack.

"Oreo!" May yelled in fear as Oreonna clenched her teeth in anguish and curled up on the ground, but even that slight movement brought her more pain. Immediately the fear of broken ribs stormed into her mind, and panic started scrambling in after it. Maybelle looked just as shaken as Oreonna, but after another deep breath a look of focus went over her face. "Okay, first things first," May said, "we need to get you off the floor to get a better look at the injury."

The cat girl was able to force out an appreciative smile to her leader as the pain began to recede a bit. It seemed like she was okay as long as she didn't try to move too much. "Alright," Oreonna agreed, trying to slowly shift to a more comfortable position on the cold floor, "but I don't think I'm able to stand on my- EEP!" The small cat girl squeaked in surprise as Maybelle effortlessly lifted her in her arms.

Oreo was worried about the movement, but her friend was surprisingly careful and gentle with her as she carried Oreonna over to a nearby bench. _This feels familiar..._ Oreo thought to herself as she remembered back to the Blighted Catacombs, when May had held her like this after catching and saving her from falling into that pit of darkness. The black and white haired girl blushed as she recollected how tightly she'd held onto Maybelle back then. Even now, she had to admit she felt very safe in the blonde's strong arms.

May set Oreonna down gently onto the bench and the violinist returned to supporting her side to ease the slight throbbing she felt. Maybelle still looked a little nervous about her partners condition. "Okay, okay, okay, uh..." Maybelle said, thinking out loud, "Aura gel! We need aura gel!" With that, the cow girl bolted out of the room and into the hallway.

Alone now, Oreo looked to the spot she'd been laying to see Symphonic Discord laying abandoned on the arena floor. The wounded cat faunus barely had time to consider retrieving it before Maybelle's head reappeared in the doorway. "Don't even think about moving," her leader ordered with a stern expression before disappearing again, followed by the sound of her loud footsteps traveling further and further away. The black and white haired teen rolled her eyes with a smile at her partners worried expression.

Seeing as how she had been forbidden from moving, the quickly bored Oreonna decided to test her injury a bit to see how bad it really was. She seemed to be breathing okay, so that meant her lungs were fine, right? So maybe her ribs weren't actually broken? Just bruised? That would certainly be a relief. Oreo started inhaling slowly, filling her chest with air, trying to see if her breathing had actually been effected at all. She got to what the faunus girl could assume was about half or her capacity for oxygen before the pain reminded her that she really shouldn't be messing around like this with her injury, the old saying about curiosity and cats coming to mind.

Thankfully, just as Oreonna was wondering what would happen if she were to use her semblance to split into her two counterparts right now, Maybelle returned to the arena, a small tube, much like one that would store toothpaste, in her hand. The cow faunus' expression seemed to have calmed a bit more during her trip, but she still hurried back to her partners side, unscrewing the cap on the tube as she approached.

Aura was still considered one of the most mysterious phenomenon's in the world of Remnant. Humanity had been studying it for generations, but had seemingly only hit the tip of the iceberg when it came to understanding what it was and where it came from. However, great strides had been made when it came to manipulating the power to aid humanities survival. Weapons could be made to be conduits for aura, electrical devices such as scrolls could be keyed into the "frequency" of a persons aura, but perhaps most importantly there had been numerous medical breakthroughs when it came to this enigmatic force. One such innovation being "aura gel", a useful tool for any huntsmen that needed first aid in the field. Naturally aura spread evenly across the body of a person who'd unlocked there's, acting as a shield as well as healing wounds at an accelerated rate. Aura gel, once applied to a wound, focused the energy of an aura to one specific spot for a short period of time, making injuries heal even faster than they normally would, though this effect does weaken an aura's protective abilities on the rest of the body. It was mainly used for smaller wounds, usually non-life threatening ones, but it did help to dull pain and get huntsmen back into the fight faster. The gel had saved many lives since it's creation, and it was commonplace to find a tube of it in every first aid kit on Remnant, which is probably where May had procured this one.

"Alright," the bovine faunus said, holding the tube sideways to read the instructions, "it says to apply the gel directly to the affected area, and massage gently into the skin. Well, I guess that should have been obvi-" Maybelle stopped talking, a look of realization on her face. She looked from the tube, to Oreonna's side, to Oreonna's face, then at the gel again, finally settling back on the cat girl sitting in front of her. The blonde gave her friend a slightly awkward glance and Oreo stared back in confusion. "Um..." May started, fumbling her words, "so... I'm gonna need you to... um..." Oreonna tilted her head, completely lost as to what her partner was getting at. "It's says... apply DIRECTLY to the affected area... so..." The cat girl squinted at May, still confused as to what she was talking about. She needed to apply the gel directly onto-

It was then that the pieces finally clicked for the naive young faunus girl as her eyes went wide, her face went bright red and her tail went rigid. May wanted her to... disrobe!? Here!? Now!? Instantly, butterflies the size of giant Nevermore's started flapping in the black and white haired violinists stomach. "W-what!?" was all she could stammer out, the fear of pain at any sudden movement being the only thing keeping her planted on the bench.

May seemed to overcome the awkwardness fairly easily as she looked -almost bemusedly- at Oreo's flustered face, "C'mon, what's the problem? We're all girls here, and we're alone, it's not like the whole schools watching or anything."

Oreonna wished she could curl up on herself right now. May didn't seem to understand the seriousness of what she was asking. Though, if the cat girl had to guess, the fact that the cow faunus had grown up with six younger siblings most likely meant she had a very different idea when it came to privacy. Still though, the cat faunus' mind was racing to find a way out of this. "I-I can apply it myself!" Oreonna said, slightly indignantly.

Maybelle gave her a skeptical look before holding out the gel for her partner to take. Oreo barely lifted her arm before her ribs protested loudly at the motion. May winced at the sight before pulling the tube of aura gel back out of the violinist reach. "Yeah, you clearly can't," she said as any amusement she might have found in this situation vanished from her face. "Look, I'm not going to make you do anything you're uncomfortable with," the cow faunus gave her teammate an understanding look, "but we need to do something about this. If you'd rather, we can just go to the infirmary and have one of the nurses there do it."

YES. That sounded infinitely better, or at least less embarrassing to Oreonna.

"Although, I'd probably have to carry you there."

Aaaaaaaand of course there was a catch. Somehow the idea of being cradled by Maybelle through the halls of Shade for anyone who happened to be wandering around at this time of night to see seemed slightly more embarrassing than undressing in front of just one person, but even then, the smaller faunus didn't find either option particularly enticing. Oreonna weighed her options silently to herself for a little longer before letting out a resigned sigh, she wondered what fate defying deity in the world seemed to get such a kick out of torturing her, and what she'd done to anger them.

"Hey," May said softly, "I just need to see your side, all you have to do is untie the back of your dress and I'll be able to reach just fine. That way you can maintain your... modesty." The blonde smiled and put a hand on the smaller girls shoulder, "It's just you and me here, okay? We'll get it done fast and you'll be feeling better in no time. I won't even peek, I promise," May winked and Oreonna pouted at her.

The violinists nerves still made her hesitant about any level of public exposure, but if it was just May... "...Fine..." the cat girl relented.

May smiled gently before walking behind Oreonna. The cat girl's hands were shaking as she tried to reach behind herself to undo the criss-crossing straps of her dress, but predictably, her injury made it seemingly impossible. The violinist grunted in pain as she continued to try and fail to reach, when suddenly she felt Maybelle's larger hands wrap around her own and gently push them away. "It's okay, I got it," Oreonna stiffened at May's quiet tone coming over her shoulder as her insides twisted into knots. Not knowing what else to do with them, the black and white haired faunus rested her hands in her lap.

Behind her, the cat girl felt Maybelle fumbling with the knots for a moment before she felt them go loose and the butterflies in her stomach went into overdrive. Then the cow faunus brought the straps holding up Oreonna's dress up over her partners shoulders. The cat girl was glad that despite her nervousness she had the presence of mind to hold the front of her outfit up with the arm on her uninjured side, keeping herself covered for the most part. Oreo could feel her heart hammering like it was about to burst from her chest, and she wouldn't be surprised if May could hear it too.

In the long list of embarrassing moments in her life, this one was quickly climbing the ranks as the worst one. The cat faunus' imagination was running wild with this of course, her own insecurities bringing up every negative thought she'd ever had in regards to her appearance. The violinist had always had a low opinion of herself when it came to her looks. She was always too small, too skinny, too frail looking. When she was younger, she always hoped she'd inherit some of her fathers size as she grew, but alas, Oreonna was doomed to be puny forever, just like her mom, if her dad was to be believed. Her scrawniness was always the first thing people would bring up when meeting her, well, aside from her weird half black, half white hair... and the cat ears... and the tail... and the-

 _Wow. I really am weird looking, aren't I?... Okay, totally not helping my self esteem with this train of thought,_ the cat girl thought to herself as her shoulders sank slightly.

After sitting in silence for a few moment, the flustered cat girl started getting antsy. Against her better judgment, Oreonna decided to hazard a glance over her shoulder to see why May hadn't started yet. She turned slightly and saw the cow girl wasn't even looking at her as she was preoccupied removing her own gloves and bracers, most likely to avoid getting the gel all over them. Then Maybelle looked up from what she was doing and her brown eyes locked onto the exposed feeling Oreonna's pink ones. The two only maintained eye contact for about a half a second before the cat girl whipped her head back around as a new level of redness spread across her cheeks. Gods, this was so awkward.

The violinist had hoped that it being Maybelle who was seeing her like this would make things easier. She knew May, she trusted May, they were teammates, friends, partners willing to put their lives in each other hands at a moments notice, but somehow those things just made all this... well, not worse, but... the cat girl had trouble coming up with the right words for what she was feeling right now.

"Hey, Oreo?" May said, "I just realized, why didn't we think to just go get the nurse and bring her here to do this?"

The color drained from Oreonna's face. _Why_ _ **didn't**_ _we think of that!?_ the cat faunus scolded herself internally, she was supposed to be the smart one! The black and white haired girl groaned loudly, again aggravating her injury. She was just so tired of all of this, it was all just too much for her to bare, she just wanted this to be over. "It's... it's fine. We're here, I've made peace with this, I'd really just rather get it over with at this point," Oreonna mumbled halfheartedly, refusing to look at her partner when she spoke.

"Alrighty then," May replied sounding almost exactly as distressed as her partner. At least it was nice to know that Oreonna wasn't the only one that felt a little uncomfortable with-

"AH!" the cat faunus yelped in surprise at the sudden cold touch on her side, the cool contact on her skin making her jump slightly and her ribs flared with pain.

May recoiled her gel covered hand in shock at her partners shout, "S-sorry! Was that too rough?" she stammered in fear.

"NO! No.. it wasn't that, I'm sorry," Oreo apologized, "it's just... your hand was cold, a-and I wasn't ready..." she added sheepishly. The coolness of the gel along with Maybelle's sudden touch had caught her completely off guard.

Behind her, Oreonna could hear her bovine friend chuckle lightly and she couldn't help a little smile of her own at the warmth of the sound. She felt May put a glove-less hand on her bare shoulder and felt herself stiffen again, but she didn't flinch. "Okay," the cow faunus almost whispered to Oreonna, the cat ears on top of her head standing up straight in attention, a strange, but not uncomfortable, chill traveling down her spine, "we'll take things nice and slow this time."

One by one May pressed her fingers against the sore spot on the cat faunus' side before slowly pressing her palm, as well as the gel, against it. Oreonna exhaled slowly at the icy sensation, now that her body had a chance to anticipate the feeling she could appreciate the salve's refreshing effects. Slowly, Maybelle started massaging the healing ointment onto her partners ribs, and Oreonna could feel a tingling sensation as her aura reacted to the substance. A small flare of pink energy gathered where her leader was touching her.

The cat ears on the black and white haired girls head relaxed as her tail went still and her posture sagged. The awkwardness of the situation was replaced by the soothing sensation of her aura healing her wound, the pain slowly dissolving into a gentle numbness. It felt good, surprisingly good actually. Oreo wondered if that was just the gel working or if it had anything to do with Maybelle's strong, rough fingertips rubbing into her in a slow, relaxing, circular motion. Before she knew it, Oreonna found herself getting lost in the feeling, her breathing started to calm, and her eyes slowly closed as she sunk into-

It was then that a low rumble escaped from Oreonna's chest, it started and then was immediately cut off as the cat girls eyes shot open. Had she just been-

"What was that noise?" May asked as her fingers stopped moving.

"I- I didn't hear anything!" the cat girl lied, the intensity of the blush on her face probably visible from space at this point. She knew full well what that sound had been as she was the one that had made it, she'd been purring. It was common trait among cat faunus, or at least that's what Oreonna had been told, but still she felt mortified by the slip up, she hadn't purred like that since she was a little girl.

Luckily, May had seemed to buy her teammates fib, and hadn't been able to identify the sound and she resumed her massage. A new level of embarrassment achieved, Oreonna and Maybelle settled into a uncomfortable silence as the cow faunus worked, a stagnant air slowly filling the room. The endless silence was too much for Oreonna to take, she needed a topic to lighten the mood, and fortunately there was a question burning in the back of the cat girls mind she wanted to ask her leader.

"So how did you do that?" the violinist asked turning her head slightly so her partner could hear.

"Hm?" May hummed, seemingly asking for clarification.

"When you hit me, your club seemed to move almost unnaturally fast, like it was weightless. It certainly caught me off guard, that's for sure."

"Oh. That," May replied, "Well, back during initiation you said how my semblance had something to do with messing with gravity around myself, I'd never really thought about it that way before. I mean, I'm not gonna pretend to totally understand everything you were talking about, but it did get me thinking; What if instead of focusing on just using my semblance to jump good I tried to see if I could focus on making Alexandra Grande lighter? You know I love her, but she can be a little... unwieldy sometimes, so maybe I could make her a little easier to move around. I've been kinda messing around with it these last few weeks in secret and... well, I guess you saw for yourself... Have I mentioned how sorry I am by the way?"

"You have, once or twice I think. Like I told you; don't worry about it," the cat faunus said, the pain in her side almost nonexistent now as her aura glowed brightly there. "It's nice to see you learning new things. I'd hate for these little sparring sessions to get too one sided," she added with a smile.

Maybelle let out a snort of a laugh, "Yeah, yeah, keep it up and maybe next time I'll add another cat girl shaped whole in the wall."

Oreonna laughed a little louder, and didn't even notice the pain in her side this time. The cat girl looked back over to the part of the wall the two of them had redecorated with her body. "You do know we're gonna be in so much trouble for that, right?" she said almost cheerfully.

"I don't know," the blonde replied, "I think it kind of brings the whole room together, don't you?" The two friends shared another laugh before May removed her hand from Oreo's side. "Okay, I think that'll do it," she said as she studied the wound. "We should still probably have the nurse take a look at it if she's up." The cow girl wiped the leftover gel on her hands off on her own armor and smiled at her handiwork.

Oreonna looked down at her side, lifting her arm a little to get a better view. There was still a large red welt where she'd been hit, and it would definitely turn into an ugly looking bruise soon, but all things considered it looked worse than it felt. However the cat faunus still wasn't at one hundred percent, as she found out when she went to try and tie her dress back in place and a dull pain stopped her. Oreonna grunted softly, so she wasn't completely healed, but she was pretty sure she could at least walk now.

"I got it," May said gleefully, bringing the straps of Oreo's dress back up over her shoulders. The black and white haired girl was surprised when she didn't so much as bat an eye at the touch this time. Maybe her body had just gotten used to the embarrassment of this whole situation at this point and wasn't going to waste the energy getting worked up again over a little bit of awkwardness with her partner. The violinist let out a resigned sigh as she leaned forward to give May better access as she laced up her outfit.

Honestly, Oreonna was a little proud of herself for how well she'd kept things together through this whole experience. A younger, more innocent version of herself would probably have fainted at the very thought of something like this, letting just anyone touch her in such a... personal way. But then again, it wasn't "just anyone", was it? It was Maybelle Daffidys, her partner, her leader, her friend, and someone whom she knew genuinely cared about her, and she was-

An amused hum behind her put the brakes on Oreonna's thoughts as her partner mumbled something like, "Girlier than I imagined..."

Oreo's cat ears perked up, only barely picking up the remark. "What?" the smaller faunus asked, confused.

"Nothing," the cow girl said, clear amusement in her voice, as she hurriedly finished tying the last knot to hold Oreonna's dress in place, "I just wanted to say that pink's a good color on you, that's all."

The cat faunus was lost again for about two seconds before realization slammed into her and for what felt like the millionth time that day, all the blood in her body rushed to her face when she realized what Maybelle had been talking about. The tall blonde walked around her partner so she could see the mischievous smile on her face and the wink that followed it, before offering her partner a hand to help the cat girl stand.

Oreonna stared up at her leader with a look of shock, but then her expression switched into more of a playful glare as she accepted the offered hand. "Yeah, you're gonna pay for that next time," the black and white cat eared girl said, internally regretting her choice to wear her pink bra that morning.

"Looking forward to it, Oreo," May said with a cocky grin as she lifted the cat girl to her feet and led her out of the Arena doors.

* * *

No one would ever claim that Oran Bellows was a mastermind by any degree, but right now he was feeling pretty proud of the plan he'd concocted. Although, a part of him still felt bad about manipulating his partner into spending time with him like this. Nichol had come such a long way since those that first antisocial week at Shade all on her own, and the hyena boy didn't want to prod her into things.

Also if she ever found out about his scheme, she'd... well, at the very least he hoped his body would be discovered someday by historians in the future and studied in an attempt to instruct future generations how how not to be a dumbass.

It was an acceptable risk though, Operation: Make Nicky Smile For Gods Sake was proving to be his greatest challenge to date. There had been a few slip ups on Nicky's part, a tug at the corner of her lips every now and then, there'd even been times she'd tried to discreetly cover her mouth as she walked away, all signs of cracks in the armor that told Oran he was making progress, but a genuine smile still eluded him. Not that the hyena boy minded, he knew that the harder the ordeal, the sweeter the reward, and the day he got a laugh out of his grouchy teammate would make it all worthwhile.

Still, the faunus was getting desperate, which led to insane plans like loosening a few screws and disconnecting a few wires on his prosthetic arms just for a chance to spend a little more time with Nichol. Was it a dirty trick? Probably... okay, it definitely was, but his gauntlets needed some maintenance anyway, so it wasn't like he was making her do this for nothing. Besides, she was here now and everything was going according to-

"OW ow ow ow ow ow! Clockwise! Clockwise, I said!" Oran shouted as his train of thought went off the rails and into a ravine as daggers of pain shot up his arm and into his shoulder.

"I-I knew that!" Nichol yelled back as she hastily turned the screwdriver she had currently stuck into the panel on the side of one of Oran's robotic limbs.

This had been the latest in what was becoming a long list of, in Oran's opinion, rookie mistakes for someone who'd designed and built a weapon as complex and amazing as Nichols. Not that orange haired prankster was upset or judging his teammate, not everyone had his level of mechanical experience after all, it was just an odd thing he'd noticed. Besides it was too late for him to back out even if he wanted to, as most of the panels and armor had been taken off his arms at this point and his own hands were sitting detached on the work bench the two were hunched over.

Shade's workshop was mostly empty this time of night, a fact Nicky had seemed pretty satisfied about. All the forges had cooled down and most of the tools had been stored away in there proper places, with only a few stray pieces littered at the several tables in the large room. There had been a couple students here when Nichol and Oran had arrived, but as the two continued working, the others had finished their tinkering and moved on.

The hyena faunus was still thrilled that his partner had even agreed to this in the first place, despite the discomfort he was experiencing, but he could tell she was getting discouraged. "Don't sweat it, okay?" Oran said, forcing a pained smile to Nichol, "You're doing fine."

The silver haired huntress barely even looked up from her task, "I'm not a child, Oran. If I make a mistake, tell me. I don't need to be coddled," she grumbled as she continued turning the screwdriver, the right way this time.

Oran winced a bit. His partner may have agreed to help, but "quality time" didn't seem to be going super great. Still though, Nichol was here, trying, and that alone spoke volumes about how much she was warming up to him since they'd met. It was one of the things Oran admired about her, Nicky's tenacity was off the freakin' charts, as he'd quickly discovered during the grueling study sessions they'd started having. She was determined, tough, strong, and most of all; stubborn, maybe a bit too much for her own good sometimes, but her passion in anything she deemed worthy of doing was unmistakable.

"I know, I get it. I just want to let you know I appreciate you-" Oran smirked, "-giving me a hand," he said, gesturing -as best he could- at the robotic appendage on the table.

Nichol stopped turning the screwdriver, not even looking up at her faunus partner. Then she gave the tool a quick, short twist in the wrong direction.

"Owowowowowow! Okay! Okay! I take it back! Bad joke! Joke redacted!" Oran cried out banging his handless arm on the table in pain. He was exaggerating a bit, it hadn't hurt **that** bad and it certainly hadn't damaged his prosthetic. He just knew this was just Nichol's way of letting Oran know his sense of humor still wasn't appreciated.

"Glad we're in agreement," the spear wielder said as she resumed turning in the right direction. Oran couldn't really see because her head was down, but he was sure he could just make out a slight curve at the ends of Nichol's lips. A smirk? He'd gotten a smirk out of her! That was like 37% of a smile! Progress! The hyena boy wasn't thrilled that his own agony was what had caused this, but a victory was a victory. Oran's heart swelled with pride at his partners willingness to show even the slightest amount of emotion. As long as she was trying, he'd keep trying to, and one day Oran knew Nichol would realize it was okay to express herself every once and a while. For now though, all he could do was let Nichol know how much he appreciated all the effort.

"Seriously though, thanks," he said, uncharacteristically genuinely, trying his best to keep his tone serious, he really wanted his partner to know how much he meant this. "I- uh... I'm actually not great at the whole 'asking for help' thing, especially when it comes to stuff like this, so... it means a lot that you agreed to do this for me."

Silence hung heavy in the workshop for a long moment. Nichol wordlessly finished tightening with the screwdriver and placed the tool on the table. "What's next?" she asked vacantly, still refusing to make eye contact with her teammate.

Oran frowned a bit. It wasn't that he was disappointment by her lack of response or anything, he already felt like he was pushing a bit too hard by basically tricking her into being here, he'd just wanted to bond with his partner, but he just couldn't figure out how. Oran peered down at the open panel on his forearm. "Uhh... Okay, almost done. We just have to reconnect those few wires and then we can start putting me back together."

Nichol didn't even hesitate to pick up the pliers from the box of tools on the table and started working again. The room went quiet for a few minutes. Oran suffered through the silence as long as he could, which wasn't very long, to no ones surprise. He opened his mouth to speak, possibly to say something just as scholarly and relevant as his earlier joke had been, but shockingly Nichol was the one who spoke first. "Why are you like this?" Nichol blurted out, finally stopping her work to look up at her faunus teammate, orange eyes full of confusion.

Oran was taken aback by the sudden question. He remembered that Nichol had asked him the same thing a few weeks back when she'd apologized for punching him during the whole "Angus" thing and he'd never really given the her an answer. "Do you mean; 'Why am like this'?" he said pointing his hand-less arm at his face and smiling in a goofy way at an impressed Nichol, "Or do you mean..." Oran gestured to his robotic forearms as best he could, considering.

Nichol thought a moment before answering, "I suppose my question would be referring to both qualities." The silver haired girl looked down at where Oran's flesh and blood elbow met with the mechanical prosthetic, a light discoloration of skin at the point they connected, along with dead nerves that had surfaced whose color contrasted with faunus' darker skin tone. "You clearly went through something... traumatic. Most people, when they experience a thing like that, it... changes them," Nichol looked back to her partners face, directly in Oran's eyes, like she was searching for some kind of answer in his green irises. "Why didn't you change?" she asked, a somber expression on her face.

Nichol's almost pleading look tunneled into Oran, and the faunus boy felt the smile on his face falter. "... Who said I didn't?..." he said, his shoulders slumping. "I guess, I just... a bad thing happened to me, so I decided to focus on making sure bad things didn't happen to other people, if I can help it anyway..." Oran expected the often cold Nichol to just roll her eyes or scoff at something that even Oran had to admit sounded incredibly cheesy. To his surprise though, his partner continued to look on in silence, her stare urging him to elaborate. Was she actually asking him to talk more? First time for everything, Oran supposed.

"Believe it or not, I wasn't always such a happy go-lucky, quick witted, well dressed, laugh machine. I was actually a pretty quiet kid, kept to myself a lot, didn't make a lot of friends," Nichol gave her partner a look of mild disbelief. Oran instinctively brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck only to remember he didn't have a hand right now. The orange haired boy sighed before continuing, "After I... after what happened, it would have been easy to dial all that quiet loner angst up to eleven, but there were- are people in my life that need me to be there for them. I wasn't the only one affected by what had happened, and I want those people to be able to be happy and smile again."

Oran stared down at the table in front of him, looking at his hands in pieces, his smile long gone as painful, repressed memories where dragged to the surface. He didn't like talking about this doomy, gloomy stuff. The subject was way too heavy for the lighthearted faunus, but if nothing else, Nichol seemed genuinely interested in his tale, which felt pretty good. "But, I guess most of all, I didn't want other people to look at me and feel bad, not for me, or for themselves. I guess that's part of the reason why I always make dumb jokes, ya know?" Oran managed a nervous chuckle, "So yeah, I did change, I suppose. For better or worse? Who knows? I guess I just knew the kind of person I didn't want to be and did my best to avoid it."

Nichol remained quiet throughout the whole explanation a quizzical look on her face, her mind processing every word her partner had said. Then she wordlessly got back to work on the lengthy task of reassembling Oran's arms. Neither of them spoke for a long time, but Oran could feel the burning question on the tip of Nichol's tongue, a question he always dreaded, one that always came up in these kind of conversations, it was the most logical question someone would have after hearing everything he'd just said.

"What happened?" Nichol finally asked, barely lifting her eyes from her work.

The hyena boy felt his guts twist, his hands started hurting, even though they'd been cut off almost a decade ago, he still felt them sometimes. Oran knew Nichol would ask eventually, everyone did. Oreonna had when they'd first met and he'd done what he always did in that situation; deflected and avoided answering the question, throwing out a few half-truths and jokes to get out of talking about it. Nichol wasn't Oreonna though, they were two drastically different people. Oreo had thankfully allowed him to dodge answering the issue, the cat girl seemed to want to avoid the awkward questions as much as he did. Nichol on the other hand, she looked at Oran with an intensity and focus that made the faunus realize his usual tricks wouldn't work here.

It's not that he couldn't talk about what had happened all those years ago, he just didn't want to. The whole story was a huge downer for everyone involved, listener included. However, he had been looking for a way to bond with Nichol, and opening up about the tragedy that had befallen his family might just get the silverette to talk about her own demons, which if Oran had to guess, not only existed, but were plaguing her just as much as his own.

Oran couldn't resist one final vain attempt to change the subject. "You sure you wanna know?" he asked with a sad smile, "It's kind of a downer story."

Nichol hesitated for only a second before nodding solemnly. Oran let out a breath and slouched back in his seat. Gods, he didn't know if he was ready to tell this story... but it was for Nichol, who he could feel was reaching out to him in her own way right now. The faunus knew he couldn't deny his friend the truth now, if he did Nichol might never open up again. So Oran decided, he'd tough this out, for Nichol.

"Alrighty then," he said with a sigh, "get comfy, Nicky. We're gonna be here for a while." The spear wielder didn't reply, not even to react to the nickname Oran knew she hated, the silver haired girl just kept working as Oran's story began;

"I was born on the southern tip of Vacuo, in a port city called Villa..."

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 **A/N-** _Hey, I'm back again! I guess I didn't really go anywhere, but it just took me a while to get this chapter edited for some reason, so I guess I just wanted all my watchers to suffer for some reason:P_

 _So this chapter, setting a lot of stuff in motion. Nichol settling in, Oran's issues starting to come to light, Oreonna and May... having some more cute, awkward moments with each other. If it seems like I'm putting too little focus on Oreonna in a story with her name in it, you'd be right. What can I say? These kids have a lot of stuff to work through, and ol' Cookie Cat needs to wait her turn for me to destroy her life and crush her dreams._

 _But unfortunately that's still pretty far off. I haven't even finished the rough draft of the next chapter and while it would be easy to just word vomit one out, but you all deserve better. That's not to say that I don't have anything else to offer right now. In fact, to make up for the gap here between chapters, I might have a MOONshot done by the end of this week, it's time to see what our favorite side-burned, book store owning, puma man is up to right about now._


	18. MOONshot 2- Meanwhile, at the Book Trade

_**A/N- Yeah. Another one of these. I'm sure at least a few of you were hoping for Oran's backstory here (or maybe I'm just in crazy denial), but it's not ready yet, and it's been (checks imaginary watch) several thousand years since I've updated this story, so consider this just a "Hey! I'm still alive! Please don't go!" post with a little story tagged onto it for you. Enjoy?**_

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 **MOONshot 2- Meanwhile, at the Book Trade**

"Whenever I think of you, and how I wish you only knew, that you might be my dream come true. But what do I have to do to make you notice me?"

The quiet, incredibly out of tune, singing helped to break up the almost deafening silence of Tukson's Book Trade as it's owner softly sang the unbearably catchy pop song to himself while he packed his shelves with his latest delivery of novels. One might ask the very justifiable question as to why a forty something year old, giant of a puma faunus would be singing a song made for people over half his age, and the answer wasn't complicated; He missed his daughter.

You see, the pop song "Dream Come True" had been at the top of the charts just a few months back. Every radio station and convenience store had been playing the song almost nonstop during that time, and the music video had been going viral on the internet as well. If you ever left your house, there was no escaping from that haunting melody.

Admittedly, the song was far from anything Tukson would find tolerable, but when you have a teenage daughter, sometimes even your own home isn't safe from the melodic voice of a pop idol. Oreonna fell in love with this song once it came out, and to Tukson misfortune, Yang had been ever so kind as to let the cat girl download a copy of it for her scroll. Lucky him.

So "Dream Come True" was played on an endless loop in the Delsole household for weeks and weeks as the side-burned faunus felt his sanity slip away a little more with every repeat. The madness didn't stop there though, even when it wasn't playing, when Oreonna was doing schoolwork, fiddling with Symphonic Discord, or even when she was helping out in the shop, the black and white haired faunus would sing those infectious lyrics.

Not that his daughter would ever sing in front of him, or anyone for that matter. The socially anxious cat girl never saw herself as much of a songstress, but when she was alone, or thought her father couldn't hear, she would often break character and start singing powerfully. Make no mistake, "Dream Come True" was far from Tukson's favorite song in the world, and if he was honest, he found it rather grating on his ears. But whenever he'd peek into the room when Oreonna had started to sing, he'd watch as she bobbed her head slightly along with the lyrics, her feline tail swaying in time, and raising her hand dramatically as she got to the songs final verse and she belted out the words, Tukson decided the song couldn't be all bad.

After a few weeks, the world seemed to forget about "Dream Come True", the song eventually settling in with every other one that played on the radio, but Oreonna never forgot about it. It seemed like the song had embedded itself in the young cat girls mind just as much as it had her fathers, and he still caught her humming it to herself right up until...

Well... until she left for Shade.

Tukson stopped singing and sighed. He knew he'd miss Oreonna, but he never knew just how badly. Now their apartment felt empty, the bookstore too, it was all just too quiet. So as a way to break up the torturous silence, and perhaps to ease the growing sense of loneliness in his heart, the burly, manly-looking faunus often found himself singing the same catchy pop song his daughter would. Someone had to, he supposed.

It wasn't that Tukson didn't have anything else to keep himself busy with in his daughters absence. He'd made a promise to take care of himself and that was one he intended to keep... for the most part. Things like sleeping in his bed -as opposed to his office chair or the couch- and eating three meals a day were easy to keep up with, but Tukson's little... side project was something he knew Oreonna would never approve of.

However, so far his little private war against the White Fang had been going pretty well. Though that may be because Tukson -as well as the few others he'd managed to win over to his cause- hadn't really done anything yet. Their wasn't anything to DO though, the Fang was still keeping things small, hitting a few random dust shops in Vale, never leaving any evidence of their presence aside from a few shaken shop owners and empty dust vaults. Their were never any causalities, so the police hardly took notice, and the big wigs at the Schnee Dust Company saw to it that their stores were restocked within a days time. Long story short; nobody cared, and the White Fang was taking advantage of it. By the time anyone else caught a whiff of what was happening, it'd be too late to stop it.

It was frustrating, time was not on Tukson's side here and he felt powerless to stop the group of radical faunus. There had been progress of course, the puma-mans eyes and ears were scouring the streets, searching for the White Fangs base of operations. They had to be somewhere in Vale, but it turns out a city as big as this one left them with plenty of places to keep hidden, even their recruitment centers were proving difficult to track.

Tukson wasn't going to let these minor setbacks stop him though, he'd find them eventually and then-

"Helloooooooooo Mr. D!"

Tukson smiled in exasperation as he immediately recognized the sing-songy voice of the girl that had just entered his shop, the bells above the door signaling her arrival about half a second before she'd called out. He finished placing the last book on the shelf before turning to face the blonde teenager who'd entered.

"Miss Xiao Long, Always a pleasure to see you," Tukson said as he took in the beaming smile of Yang, one of Oreonna's best friends, as she started walking over. Then the bookstore owner noticed another, smaller visitor next to the energetic blonde. It only took him a second to recognize the red hood and silver eyes of her sister Ruby, who stared up at the giant faunus with a nervous, but polite smile. "Hello, Ruby. How are you?" Tukson asked gently.

The tiny girl broke eye contact and looked off to the side as she answered the relatively innocent question. "Oh, you know, just uh... busy with.. stuff... y'know, Beacon stuff... I guess," Ruby said timidly.

Tukson felt a small jab of hurt at how the younger daughter of Tai Yang reacted to him. The look of intimidation and maybe a little fear Ruby often gave him was one he wasn't at all unfamiliar with. Roaring muscles, a deep threatening voice, sharp canines in his smile, and perhaps overly aggressively trimmed sideburns, didn't do much to help him appear less scary. It was hard for the giant faunus to believe that there had ever been a point in his life when he'd actually relished the sight of a human recoiling from his imposing figure, but that wasn't who Tukson was anymore, or at least it wasn't who he wanted to be. It was a reminder of a life he'd tried so desperately to escape, and it made him sad whenever Ruby looked at him like that, he didn't want to be the that kind of monster to humans ever again.

Yang wrapped an arm around her sisters shoulder and pulled her close as Ruby let out a squeak of surprise. "My sis is just being modest." The pint sized red and black haired teen struggled uselessly against her bigger siblings grip as Yang spoke, "Didn't you hear, Mister D? She's the officially appointed leader of the most badass group of huntresses in training this side of Remnant!"

Tukson smirked and crossed his arms as he whistled in an impressed tone. "Wow," he said as Ruby managed to separate herself from her sister with an elbow to the blondes side, "moved ahead two years, and leader of her own team? That's pretty impressive."

Ruby put her arms behind her back, looked down and kicked her boot shyly as she half mumbled out, "It's no big deal, really..."

"Awww! C'mon Rubes!" Yang said as she slapped her sister playfully on the back, almost making Ruby topple over from the force, "You're hyped! Show it a little!"

"Yaaaaaaaaang..." Ruby whined up at her sister.

Tukson let out a short laugh. Oreonna's friends were nothing if not entertaining. "So, Yang, here to pick up your order?" Tukson asked referring to the text book Yang had requested he order for her. "I still don't understand how you managed to need a replacement copy of 'Your Semblance and You' less than a month into the school year," the faunus said as he stepped behind his counter to serve his customers.

"Yeah... well... you know, stuff happens... totally random and not at all my fault... stuff," the blonde said sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head.

"She set it on fire," Ruby blurted out with an amused look on her face.

"RUBY!"

Tukson laughed a bit louder now as the sisters began to squabble again, eventually devolving to Yang holding Ruby back with her palm on her forehead as her younger sister swung wildly at her. "Well your book came in this morning, I'll go out back and grab it," the giant of a man said before the two teens could really start going at it.

Yang let go of her sister and the smaller girl fell forward with a thud. "Oh. Cool. Thanks!" the blonde said, ignoring her sister groaning on the floor, "Don't mind if I poke around a little in the meantime, right?"

Tukson smiled. "Knock yourself out," he said as Yang wandered off to another corner of his shop. After a moment, Ruby got to her feet and tried to brush away some of the dust from her skirt before looking up to see Tukson still studying her. The silver eyed girl went still, then started nervously flexing her hands in front of her, as if she wanted to ask something but couldn't build up the courage under the faunus' gaze. Tukson had a feeling he knew what she was looking for.

The bookstore owner's smile softened. "Sooooo the new X-Ray and Vav came in today, Ruby," Tukson's troubled heart was eased a little as the younger girls face lit up, "just in case you might know someone who's interested."

"Oh!- I mean, (ahem) oh, really?" Ruby said trying too hard to sound nonchalant, "Well, I guess I might hypothetically know some people that might hypothetically be interested in... whatever exciting, thrilling comic book series you just mentioned... hypothetically..."

Tukson let out a gruff chuckle. "Well, if you happen to know anyone interested, they're on the rack at the front of the store," he said, gesturing towards the small collection of comics and magazines he kept by the entrance.

In a flash of rose petals, Ruby disappeared from in front of him and over to the comics, snatching one up and starting to read excitedly. Tukson shook his head in amusement. Kids were never too hard for him to deal with, you just had to know what they wanted without them telling you is all.

The shop owner turned to head into his back room to collect Yang's order when he heard the sound of his door opening and the bell sounding off again. The tall faunus spun back around to see two new people entering his shop, ones he'd never seen before.

The teens could not have been more different, dressed in polarizing white and black outfits that for a second reminded Tukson of his own daughters hair colors. The one on the right wore a spotless white dress that matched the color of her hair, which was tied off in a side ponytail. The girl stepped daintily into the shop, looking around skeptically. Eventually, the pale colored girl made her way over to one of the many shelves in Tukson's store, one hand on her hip. Then she placed one of her pristine fingertips on the shelf and dragged it across it. She brought the finger up in front of her face and scoffed at it. Tukson narrowed his eyes at the clearly snobbish girl, not exactly thrilled with her immediate dismissal of his shop. Still, customers were customers, and he was in no position to be picky.

Speaking of which, the other teenager that had entered was still standing in the doorway as she looked around cautiously. The black haired girls yellow eyes scanned the mostly empty book store with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. On top of her head was a bow matching her hairs color that Tukson briefly stared at. There was something about this girl that just... gave him a funny feeling, he didn't know why. Then, the darker of the two new arrivals also walked over to a shelf and after running her finger along the spines of the book, stopped at one that caught her eye which she removed from the shelf, a slight smile appearing on her face. Tukson shrugged to himself, he already liked this girl much more than her condescending friend, whatever bad feeling he'd been getting was pushed aside as the darker haired girl gently flipped the pages of the book.

New customers meant only one thing; Tukson cleared his throat just loud enough to get the two's attention, he loved this part of his job. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade," he said proudly, "home to every book under the-"

"No need for the tagline, Mr. D," Yang said, interrupting Tukson and deflating his enthusiasm quite cruelly. "That's just Weiss and Blake, our teammates," the blonde explained, "they're the other half of team RWBY."

"What?" Ruby asked from the comic rack.

"Not you, Ruby," Yang said with a sigh, "I meant 'RWBY', not 'Ruby'."

"Oh," the red and black haired teens said, turning back to her comic. "Wait, what?" she said back over her shoulder, a confused look on her face.

Yang groaned loudly, "Look, just put on your headphones and finish reading your comic, I'll let you know when I'm ready to leave."

"Can do!" Ruby said cheerfully as she slipped a pair of large red headphones over her ears and dived back into her story.

Tukson stared at Yang for a moment. "Soooo I take it that happens-"

"It's been a confusing few weeks, yes," the blonde said in exasperation, massaging her temple. "Speaking of which, any word from Kit-Kat?"

Tukson smiled sadly as the topic of his loneliness was brought to the forefront. "She messages me when she can, and I gave her a ConnectCard so we video chat through the CCT on weekends. She seems to be settling in pretty well over at Shade, keeping up with her schoolwork, making new friends..." the book store owners smile faded, "... I still miss the hell out of her..." he admitted sadly.

Yang walked up and punched the tall faunus lightly in the shoulder. "Yeah, I miss her too, but c'mon, Mr. D! We both know Oreonna is kicking all kinds of butt over at Shade, and we just have to be proud of her for following her dreams." Tukson's smile grew a little wider and fonder at the blonde's words, but before her could reply-

"Excuse me, shop keep," an annoyed voice asked from in front of the counter. The faunus turned to see the white haired teen standing there with an expectant look on her face, both hands on her hips. Now that she was closer, Tukson became aware of a scar going over the girls left eye and when he got a better look she actually looked oddly familiar... he just couldn't remember where he'd seen her before.

"'Home to every book under the what, exactly?" the white haired girl asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tukson crossed his massive arms in front of himself, his own annoyance at the girls attitude starting to boil over, giving his response a bit more of an edge as he spoke. "That's Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun," he said with a sneer.

"Oh really?" the girl said with a clear and present "tone" in her voice, "You expect me to believe that this little hole in the wall store can back up a catchphrase as ridiculous and boastful as that?"

Tukson felt his eyelid twitch a bit at the remark. Criticizing his catchphrase wasn't uncommon among his customers, but the puma faunus always worked hard to make the words a reality. He knew it might be unrealistic, obviously there were books that he couldn't possibly have, but at the end of the day a slogan like that brought in customers and that's all that really mattered. Plus, he knew he might not have all the books in the world, but damn it, he had a lot of them, and he loved a challenge. This girl didn't know it yet, but she'd just awakened the spark of competition in Tukson.

"Try me," the faunus said with a smirk.

"C'mon, Weiss," Yang pleaded, stepping closer to break things up, "leave Tukson alone, he's just trying to-"

"Do you have 'Beast of Burden'?" the white haired teen, Weiss, apparently, asked in an aggressive tone, interrupting her teammate. That name... Tukson wracked his brain trying to figure out why that name sounded so familiar...

"The original? Or the three sequels and one prequel? Because the answer is yes, to all," Tukson shot back, his lip curving upward exposing his sharp canines.

Weiss stiffened her gaze as she tried to think up something a bit more rare, "What about 'The Conscience of Madame Sirileon'?"

The faunus scoffed, it was a slightly less common tome, but also one of his favorites and he always made sure to keep copies on hand to recommend to customers. "Do you want it in hardcover or paperback?" Tukson asked.

The snobby girl pouted slightly, but she was far from beaten. "'Veridia's Gambit'?'"

The side burned man just nodded at this, his face the picture of confidence.

This back and forth continued for several minutes. Yang wandered off with a huff at one point, not that either of the combatants seemed to notice as they continued their back and forth.

"Temper's Steel?"

"Got it."

"The Cave and the Cross?"

"Got it."

"Copper and Gold?"

"Uhh, let me think- got it."

Weiss sneered a little, before a cocky grin settled on her face. "What about... The Northern Expanse... Part IV?"

Tukson opened his mouth to answer, but stopped, confusion taking over his features as he appeared to be thinking hard. "Actually... no... we don't carry that one..."

"AHA!" Weiss practically yelled as she grinned, pointing an accusing finger at the tall faunus, "I knew there was-"

"Of course, that's because Part IV won't come out till next week," Tukson said as a triumphant smile spread across his face. "Did you want to pre-order a copy?"

The joy disappeared from the white haired girls face as she froze mid-point. She groaned loudly then spun on her heel and stormed towards the exit of Tukson's Book Trade. "I'll be outside," Weiss said without looking back and slamming the door behind her.

Tukson just stood there watching the agitated girl leave, feeling oddly proud of himself. His bookstores honor defended for another day. Yang side-stepped over to him, "You do know we have to live with her now, right?" she said with a pained expression.

The bookstore owner shrugged, "I am a prideful, yet compassionate business owner who is not to be trifled with in his domain. Now she knows that," he said. "Seriously though, is she always... like that?"

"Eh, sorta," the blonde replied, putting her hands behind her head and sighing. "Don't get me wrong, she's great in a fight, there's a giant, headless Nevermore in the Emerald Forest that can attest to that." A smile crept onto Yang's face that made Tukson groan inwardly in advance at whatever pun was about to come out of her mouth, "But that attitude of hers is the last thing we _Schneeded._ "

"Schneeded?" Tukson said more in confusion than exasperation.

"Oh... yeah, her last name is Schnee," Yang said in realization. "I guess that joke would have made more sense if you'd known that first..."

This was the point where Tukson would normally roll his eyes so hard he'd be in danger of having a stroke, but instead, all the color drained from his face.

Schnee.

Weiss Schnee.

Suddenly, all the clues snapped into place, and he could finally see why this girl had seemed so familiar to him. A Schnee had just walked into his store.

It probably wouldn't be surprising for anyone to find out that a former member of the White Fang would have... complicated emotions regarding the Schnee family name. Of course, when you're taught for years that a family is nothing but pure evil, you tend to have a bit of a bias when it comes to such things. It hadn't really started until around the last few years that Tukson had been with the Fang, that's when the Schnee's really got on the groups radar. The families treatment of the faunus people made them an obvious target, making members of Tukson's race work unfair hours for reduced pay in absolutely appalling conditions in the Schnee Dust Companies mines all over Atlas. Needless to say, Tukson, as a member of the White Fangs more sinister splinter group at the time, had been given strict orders to execute any members of the infamous family on sight.

And one had just marched into his home. Stood no more than a few feet away from him.

Granted those orders were given to Tukson a life time ago and had no influence on him anymore, but still the muscular faunus found the whole scenario quite surreal.

"Uhh... Remnant to Tukson? You still in there?" The burly puma man's vision was obscured by a finger-less gloved hand waving in front of his face as Yang tried to get the man back to reality. "C'mon, the pun wasn't even that good."

The bookstore owner shook his head to restore his focus. "Well, at least we can agree on that," he said with a bit of a forced smile. "I'll go grab your order, Yang. Don't want to keep you kids here all day."

Tukson turned to head out back but was stopped again, this in time in surprise when he saw the darker, bow wearing member of team RWBY -who must be Blake, by process of elimination- standing at the other end of his counter holding a small paperback book in her hand. The puma faunus prided himself in his enhanced sense of hearing, even at his age, but he hadn't even heard the girl coming...

"Do you have this in hard cover?" the black haired girl asked plainly.

The burly puma faunus put on his best business making smile as he went to answer, but suddenly he stopped, the look on his face darkening. Much like his impressive hearing, Tukson was also proud of his sense of smell. It wasn't like he was the type to go around sniffing every person he ever met, especially not random teenagers, but every once in a while his animal like senses picked up on things all on their own. Which led to Tukson picking up an interesting and familiar scent on the girl in front of him. She was a faunus.

It wasn't a skill most of his race had, being able to sniff out his own kind out in a crowd, but it had been a useful one he'd developed for his work back in the day. Going into an enemy stronghold and, without even looking, being able to tell if there were any faunus friendlies inside, or rather, any possible recruits for the Fang. It'd taken years of practice, but he'd gotten quite good at sniffing a hidden faunus out, and the ability had helped him more times Tukson could count.

The fact that Blake was a faunus didn't bother Tukson, why would it? No, it was the fact that she was _hiding_ it. Nothing about the girl's appearance gave away the fact that she wasn't human, but his nose had never failed him before. Granted he had no way of guessing just what type of animal trait the girl possessed, but as he stared up at the slightly out of place looking bow in her hair, Tukson felt he could make an educated guess _where_ she was hiding her animal side. Truthfully, it wasn't so much _that_ she was hiding, it was why she would feel she _needed_ to. That alone made Tukson suspicious and had him assuming the worst. Immediately, the perhaps overly paranoid puma faunus thought of the White Fang. Not surprising, given what he'd been up to lately, but he couldn't rule out the possibility. Still, Tukson knew no good would come from jumping to conclusions.

By now, Blake was giving Tukson a look, wondering why the book store owner was studying her so critically. "Umm..." she said awkwardly, drumming her fingers on the counter.

The puma faunus blinked a few times as he stood there, before settling back into his friendly facade. "O-of course, let me just check our supply list," Tukson said as he reached for the thick binder under his counter and pretended to be searching through it for the version of the book in question.

He needed to know if this girl had connections to the White Fang, but he also needed to be discreet. The puma man quickly concocted a less than subtle plan in his head. "So, uh, I hope you girls are heading straight back to the school after this, the streets are getting pretty dangerous these days," Tukson said, trying to inconspicuously take in Blake's reactions to this, but unfortunately for him, the girl remained as stoic as she had been when she'd entered.

"Psh," Yang scoffed as she stepped up next to her dark haired teammate, "I think the four of us could handle a purse snatcher or twelve on our own, Mr. D."

Tukson nodded absentmindedly, never taking his eyes off the faunus in disguise in front of him. "Yeah, I heard the **White Fang** held up a dust shop on the other side of town just last week," he said not even trying to hide the emphasis on the radical groups name.

And there it was, it was small, but the reaction was instant. A slight twitch in the girls yellow, cat-like eyes, a small flex of her fingers on the counter, and Tukson could of sworn he saw the girls bow move ever so slightly. It would be easy to write off this reaction as a coincidence, but when you've lived the kind of life Tukson had, you stopped believing in such things.

There was no doubt in his mind; Blake knew something about the White Fang. Maybe she was a sleeper agent, or better yet; a deserter like him, whoever or whatever she was, this girl had information and information was something the puma faunus desperately needed. After weeks of no leads, basically running around without a clue, always a step behind the shadowy organization, he had a potential source. This girl could help him, she had to, he couldn't pass this up, there was too much at stake here.

After pretending to look a moment longer, Tukson stopped to address his customer. "Well, looks like we do have that version in stock," he said with a well practiced smile, "I just need to grab it from out back, I'll get your order too, Yang." Then, the faunus turned and headed through the double doors behind him into Tukson's Book Trade's back room.

The store owners smile disappeared as soon as he stepped into his storage area, ready to prepare the next part of his hastily thrown together plan. Tukson picked up the requested book off a stack in the back corner of his office, as well as Yang's order and brought both over to his desk.

He wanted to know what Blake knew, but without outright exposing her in the process, so Tukson needed to be a little sneaky. Grabbing a blank piece of paper from his printer and a pen from the cup by his computer, the puma man quickly jotted down a note.

 _I know what you are. We need to talk._

 _I need information about the White Fang._

 _Come back to the shop tonight. I'll leave the door unlocked._

 _Come alone._

Tukson reread the note to himself, then nodded. Yes, this would be the shot in the arm his investigation needed. The large faunus slipped the note into the inside cover of Blake's book and scotch taped it in place, hopefully it wouldn't fall out before the kids got back to Beacon. The side-burned man grabbed both books and turned to head back into the stores front room, but stopped with his hand on the doors as he looked out the green tinted windows on them.

Yang and Blake were still standing at the counter, chatting with each other, and Tukson could just make out bits of there conversation;

"... I actually already have a soft cover copy of this one, but hard cover books are a little more durable," the darker haired teen explained, holding up the flimsier version of the book she'd requested. "I figure I could replace the one holding your bed up with this copy before it gets damaged."

"I guess that makes sense..." Yang replied, the blonde said with a little guilt creeping into her voice. "You know, we could always find another way to hold them up, right? I feel bad making you use your books, it's pretty clear you like to take care of them."

"It's fine, I can't exactly read them all at the same time anyway. Besides, this way they aren't taking up space in the dorm, and we can always swap them out if I need one." Blake smirked a little and looked off to the side before muttering, "Plus, bunk beds are pretty cool, I guess..."

Yang laughed loudly and Blake's smirk grew fonder as Tukson watched from behind the double doors. The burly faunus looked down at the books in his hand, the one on top hiding the secret note he'd left inside.

What was he doing?

Was he really willing to essentially blackmail this girl just to get a little information? Was he really stooping that low? Is that who he was now? Is that who he became when his daughter wasn't around to keep him in check?

Blake wasn't a part of his little private war against the White Fang, she was just a girl, a student, just like Oreonna. She had a life, a team, friends, and a promising future as a huntress. Was Tukson really going to throw all that into chaos just so he could put together a few puzzle pieces a little faster? The book store owner stood at the doors for a while longer, looking from the book in his hand, to the girl waiting eagerly and he sighed. No, that wasn't him, and it never would be.

The tall faunus walked back over to his desk, opened Blake's book, took out the note and crumpled it before tossing it into the small trashcan. Tukson felt disgusted with himself for even considering the idea. He would win this war against the Fang, but not if it meant losing what was left of his soul. Tukson was about to walk back out to give the girls their books, but he stopped one more time. Just because he wasn't going to through with his original plan, didn't mean he had to do nothing about the situation he'd discovered. The side burned man smiled a little to himself as he grabbed a fresh of paper and his pen.

* * *

"Thanks again, Mr. D!" Yang yelled back over her shoulder as Blake, Ruby and herself left Tukson's Book Trade, joining Weiss who'd been waiting outside with her arms crossed and sour look still on her face.

Blake held her new book in her hands taking up the rear in the group as she trailed behind her partner down the street towards the airship terminal that would take team RWBY back to Beacon. The bow wearing girl studied her recent purchase with a vague interest. Like she'd told Yang, she already had a copy of this book, but said copy was currently supporting an entire bed above her own back at Beacon in a bizarre amalgamation of what could almost be called 'bunk beds'. Blake didn't really NEED another copy, especially considering how large her collection of books she traveled with was already, but it just felt... rude to go into someones shop without at least buying something. Though, she supposed there wasn't much of a reason to feel guilty. The whole reason the team of freshmen huntresses had been going to Tukson's Book Trade in the first place was to pick up an order had Yang placed. Also Blake could see her teams leader, Ruby, at the front of the pack with her head buried in a comic book while Weiss chastised the younger girl for not watching were she was going. So it was safe to say that with those, as well as Blake's purchase, the team had done their duty in supporting their local book store.

The faunus girl smiled as she watched Yang involve herself in Weiss and Ruby's conversation, poking fun at how the stores owner had risen to the heiresses challenge and come out on top. Blake was surprised just how fast her teammates were growing on her, she'd never imagined she would ever have relationships like this with humans after coming to Beacon. She wished she could tell them who she really was, and she would... someday, but for now, the disguised faunus had to keep her friends in the dark and continue her charade as a human girl. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, well, not all of them, it was just her past with the White Fang had understandably left the dark haired girl with some issues she was still working through, especially in regards humanity.

Thinking about the Fang reminded Blake of how Tukson had suddenly brought up the organization when ringing up her purchase. The way he'd stared at her was... unnerving, like he was looking right through her. The book store owner had seemed a little off the entire time he'd been talking to Blake, but after he'd gone into his back room -and spent quite a while back there in her opinion- he'd come back out and everything seemed fine, so the faunus girl decided not to dwell on it.

The raven haired huntress sighed as her teammates really started getting into it now. Weiss had made some kind of offhanded comment about Yang's hair and now Ruby was struggling to play peacemaker between the two. It was going to be a looooong trip back to Beacon. So seeing nothing better to do to drown out the noise, Blake opened her book up only to be surprised when a small piece of paper fell out.

The quick thinking faunus lashed out with her free hand and snatched the parchment out of the air before it could hit the ground. She raised an eyebrow at the folded paper, maybe it was her receipt? No, Tukson had handed that to her after passing her the book and it was now resting in her pocket, so what was this? Blake opened the mysterious paper and stopped walking, her mouthy going dry as she read the note.

 _I know what you are._

 _It can be hard being on your own, I know firsthand._

 _Just remember, you're not alone._

 _And if you ever need anything,_

 _My door is always open._

 _-Tukson_

Blake stood frozen on the sidewalk as she read and reread the note a few times. Before she could begin to analyze just what it really meant, a voice called out to her.

"Blake?" Yang said, the blonde stopping and looking back towards her partner with a concerned look, the rest of her team also noticing their friend hadn't been keeping up and halted their march. "You okay?" the brawler asked.

The secret faunus stared back at her team, her... friends, with a tense expression, but when she saw the look of genuine worry and caring on their faces -even Weiss's... to an extent- she was able to shake off the feeling and produce a convincing smile. "Yeah... I'm fine," Blake lied, "just a little tired I guess, ready to get back to the school." The black haired girl discreetly tucked the note into her back pocket as she spoke, her swift movements going unnoticed.

Ruby and Weiss seemed convinced by the cat girls deception, but Yang gave her a look for a little longer than the others, before turning and continuing on her way. Blake remained in place a second longer, looking back at Tukson's Book Trade with an unreadable expression on her face before she followed in her teams footsteps back towards Beacon.

 ** _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_**

 ** _A/N- So there that is, hope you enjoyed! This was mainly just me setting some things up for later on in the story... What? Did you think Blake just slept on the streets those two days she ran away from her team? I don't think this will be the last time Tukson and herself interact._**

 ** _I'll be sure to get back to work on the next actual chapter for you guys soon! I'm sure it won't be a tragic or horrible ordeal for anyone*! HAHAHAHAHAH!_**

 ** _*Spoilers: it will._**


	19. It Only Takes One Day

_**A/N-Not quite dead yet! New year, new chapter. "Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long" he said for around the twentieth time. Anyway, enjoy some scruffy, orange, hyena-boy backstory!**_

 **Chapter 18- It Only Takes One day...**

The people of Remnant often referred to Villa as "The Gateway to Menagerie", being as the small port city was the major trading point between the island of faunus and the continent of Sanus. While many other oceanside cities might have reservations about doing business with the animal-like race, Villa had the distinction of being populated with mostly faunus itself, making such discrimination much less of an issue.

The smell of sea salt filled the air in the busy port, as well as the sounds of cranes and forklifts moving massive shipping containers on and off the freighters at the dock. Gulls squawked as they hovered over the fishing boats in the harbor, looking for a quick meal, the captains of said boats could be heard shouting at the infernal winged creatures until their voices were overshadowed by am obnoxious fog horn, signaling yet another ship pulling in to the already crowded port. It was a small ship, it had possibly been shipping vessel long ago, but instead of crates being unloaded, it was a group of people stepping off onto the wooden, barnacle covered docks.

The crowd returning to Villa was a intimidating one to say the least. Many were decked out in weapons and light armor, all of which appeared to have clearly just seen battle. Though they varied in size and stature, the group was clearly full of hardened warriors, tempered by struggle. However, the tone of the jokes and laughter they shared offset any air of mystery and intimidation one might get from the group.

Stepping off the boat last was a scruffy looking faunus with an orange wolf tail swinging carefree behind him that matched the mess of slicked back hair on his head as well as the goatee on his chin. The hot weather didn't seem to compliment his clothing, not that the man seemed to pay much mind. Fur matching the color of his hair and tail surrounded the neck and shoulders of the open vest he wore over a white tunic. The same color fur also covered the tops of his black, tightly laced boots that his brown pants were tucked into. He only wore a small bit of armor, much like his colleagues, a mere bracer on his right wrist and a studded elbow pad on his left arm seemed to be enough for the man. Battle had clearly taken it's toll on this faunus as well, a small scar sliced downward over his left eye splitting his brow on that side in half, but his two red irises still shined brightly with alertness. In addition a larger series of scars, almost claw like, covered the top of his left bicep. Not all of the markings on the orange haired faunus' body were unwanted though, on the left side of his exposed chest you could just make out a tattoo of what appeared to be an "X" with tribal markings etched into it's sharp looking edges. The man stopped and took in a deep breathe of the salty air, before throwing his heavy bag over his shoulder and stepping off the frigate with the rest of his militia members.

 _Damn, it's good to be home._

Stepping onto dry land for the first time in several days, the faunus man was looking forward to getting a few weeks off before he was inevitably called away on some other life threatening mission. Weeks he intended to spend with his friends -when they weren't being shot at for a change- and more importantly, his family.

"Valencio!" a friendly voice called out from the crowd of street vendors not far from the docks. The orange haired mercenary's head shot up at the sound of his name and a grin spread across his cheeks at the sight of his old friend.

"McCaw? How the hell are you?" Valencio asked as he hurried over to the shorter man.

McCaw was stouter than his acquaintance, his build not quite as muscular as the larger faunus, though most of his figure, including his arms, were hidden under a red poncho going down to his waist. The garment was a little longer on the sides and patterns of yellow, blue and green on the bottom of it's tattered edges contrasted with the cloths faded, red color. The smaller, brightly dressed man, looked up fondly at his comrade with shining green eyes, darkened only slightly under the wide brim of his sombrero, but aside from his eyes, the rest of the mans face was covered with a red handkerchief that was tied around the back of his head. McCaw was definitely the kind of man that attracted stares traveling down the street, and if his odd appearance didn't do it, the pair of bladed revolvers on each hip completed his look. Not that there was anything out of the ordinary about that though, he was a huntsman, after all.

"It's good to see you again, amigo," McCaw said, lightly tipping his hat, "how's Mistral this time of year?"

Valencio sighed. "Exhausting," he replied tiredly. The wolf faunus, along with the rest of Vacuo's militia, had been contracted out to Anima to deal with a land dispute alongside the nations army. The bandit problem over there had been getting worse and worse over the years. So bad in fact, that the fancy pants nobles up there had to call in a bunch "dirty guns for hire" as they put it, to help keep there kingdom development plans on track. It was messy work, but that was the only kind Valencio had ever been good at, so what right did he have to complain. Lien was lien at the end of the day, and he had a family to feed. "How've things been on the homestead without me?" he asked.

McCaw snorted loudly as the two began making there way through the marketplace. "Well, it's been quiet, for starters," he said in a joking manner, giving his orange haired friend a side glance.

"Jerk," Valencio retorted, nudging the shorter man with his elbow.

The huntsman chuckled gruffly before his tone became serious. "No, really, Valen. It's actually been a little too quiet around here," McCaw said with a hint of worry, "Crimes down, lot's of strangers coming and going in the port, I don't know, man..." The sombrero wearing man stopped at a fruit stand and after handing the man behind it a lien card, picked up an exotic, tough looking fruit. "It just gives me a bad feeling in my gut is all," McCaw said as he carefully lifted the edge of the bandana covering his face and raised the odd looking produce to his mouth. There was a loud crunch as a bit of purple juice splattered onto his outfit, and after a few more unsettling chomps, McCaw withdrew his hand and the fruit was gone.

It was Val's turn to laugh now. "Your gut, huh? It's no wonder you've got a bad feeling, I mean, look at that thing you just ate! It looked like that fruit came from space!" the wolf faunus said with a broad smile.

The red dressed man didn't return the jovialities this time though, his concerned expression growing. "I mean it," he said seriously, "I've been looking into... something. It's probably nothing, but I might need a hand with it later. Can I count on your help, amigo?"

Valen gave his friend a hesitant look. "McCaw, I JUST got home. I'm nothing but sore muscles and nightmares right now. All I want is to see my girl and the pup, not get wrapped up in another fight that's not mine. I've been gone for months, man." The two stepped off into a narrow alleyway to continue this conversation with more privacy. "Besides, you're the huntsman here, not me. Why not ask one of your own righteous alumni to help you out?" Valencio asked.

"This is different Val," McCaw replied. "I just want someone I can trust watching my back."

"You don't trust other huntsmen?" The orange haired man said skeptically.

McCaw shuffled in place a bit, "I do... just not as much as I'd trust my brother..."

The wolf tailed faunus sighed loudly, his friend always did know how to guilt trip him. Still though, Valencio could hear the desperation in McCaw's voice, and as much as he didn't want to get dragged into this... whatever this was, he owed his friend a debt. After all, with Valen traveling all over Vacuo and beyond with the militia, someone had to stay here and watch over his family, and McCaw had done that for him all these years. That meant his old friend had to turn down work of his own, huntsman jobs that could have set him up for life. Yet despite this, McCaw hadn't once complained about his post here in Villa while Valen was away, and that had given the wolf faunus peace of mind about his loved ones safety. So yeah, he owed him, but beyond that, the two were family as well, had been for decades, ever since the two had attended Shade Academy all those years ago. Of course, Valen had dropped out about halfway through his third year, the life of a huntsman just wasn't for him apparently, but McCaw had seen things through to graduation day, while Valencio found slightly less... reputable mercenary work. The difference in lifestyles didn't affect their relationship though, McCaw was -like he'd said- a brother to him, so how could he refuse this plea?

"Fine," Valencio relented, "If you need help -and that's a big IF. Seriously, I'm talking emergencies only- then I suppose I might, possibly, perhaps, maybe, be willing to help out."

McCaw stepped forward and put a hand on his taller friends shoulder, "Thank you, Valencio," he said with a fondness in his eyes, "it really is good to see you again, amigo." Then, without much warning, the smaller man pulled the orange haired faunus into a short, but tight hug.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the wolf tailed man said with a smile and an eye roll as he returned the embrace, "my icy heart is melting in your fingertips and blah, blah, blah."

The sombrero wearing gunslinger released Valencio and turned to walk away, "Alright, I won't hold you up anymore, amigo," McCaw headed out of the alley talking back over his shoulder, "Say hello to Carmen and Oran for me."

The wolf faunus pushed himself off the wall and got ready to head off in the opposite the direction, "Will do, I'll catch you later, birdbrain," Valen said with a smile at his friends expense.

McCaw didn't even turn back this time, but he did raise a hand into the air, flipping off his goateed comrade in arms. "I take it back, I think I preferred the quiet without you here."

Valencio snickered to himself before turning away and finally heading home.

* * *

It was a long walk from the port to the Bellow family estate, but it seemed infinitely longer to Valencio because of how long he'd been away. As soon as the wolf faunus saw the high pointed ceiling of his childhood home, he felt his chest swell with excitement. The house had been in the Bellow's family for generations, eventually passed down to Valen by his late father. Though the tailed man might argue the motivation behind his dad giving him such a "gift", he still loved the old two story wooden plantation home, from it's long, winding driveway, to it's red, bricked chimney. Although, maybe it wasn't so much the house itself that he was happy to see, but rather the people waiting inside for him.

Valencio broke into a light jog, his pack slapping against his ribs as he moved quickly across the large expanse of land his house was built on. He cleared all three of the steps on the porch with one leap, and quickly made his way up to the screen door. From inside, the mercenary could hear a sweet, melodic humming in the kitchen that made a wistful smile appear on his face as he let himself in, the well oiled hinges barely making a sound as the faunus crept through. There at the sink, washing dishes, was a woman in a hazelnut sweater gently swaying her hips to the rhythm she hummed. Her curly, caramel colored hair seemed to bounce as she moved, and sticking out in front of the brown locks hanging over her forehead were a pair of gazelle horns curving up. Even from across the room, Valencio could tell the antlers had been trimmed recently, which made sense, Carmen had never liked letting her faunus trait get too overgrown.

Val couldn't resist sneaking across the checkered linoleum, his footsteps silent as he moved up behind the faunus woman. "You know," he whispered in a smooth voice into his wife's ear, his smile widening at the squeak of a gasp she let out as she spun around, "you should probably keep that back door locked."

Carmen's look of shock changed to surprise, then to annoyance, and finally settling into mock anger as she huffed at her husband standing there smirking at her. "You're right," she said with a hint of aggravation, "you never know what kind of scruffy degenerates might let themselves in."

The two stared at each other as both their faces broke into elated smiles and Carmen leapt up into Valencio's arms, wrapping her legs, as well as her still wet and soapy hands around his body as she gave her scruffy, degenerate husband a long passionate kiss. This went on for some time, until finally, Carmen removed her lips from Valen's, but still remained latched on to him and pressed her forehead to his as she spoke, "You jerk. You said you wouldn't be home for another week. If I had known you were coming I would have done something special to celebrate."

"I don't know," Valen said with a gruff chuckle, "this feels pretty damn special." The two locked eyes and smiled again before giving each other another, much more gentle kiss. "I missed you, Carm," the wolf tailed man said, finally letting his wife return to the floor. Valencio's brilliant smile never faded as he began looking around the kitchen curiously. "So... where's Oran?" he asked.

Carmen's smile fell a bit. "You can probably guess..." the gazelle faunus said with a resigned voice.

The orange haired man sighed. "He's in the treehouse again, yeah?" he asked. Carm nodded sadly. "He's still having trouble at school?" Val asked the second question even though he could already guess the answer.

"The teachers say he's still not participating in class," the faunus woman reported back while putting a hand on her hip, "he barely even socializes with the other kids, he just sits alone and doesn't talk." Carmen crossed her arms as she stared up at Valen with a hopeless look, "I've tried talking to him about it, but he keeps denying that anything's wrong. He's never been like this before... I don't know what to do... " A humorless laugh slipped out as she went on, "it must be bad if he can't even talk to his mom about it." The antlered woman leaned against the counter behind her as she pleaded with her husband, "Do you think you could give it a shot?"

Valencio took a deep breath, "I can try, but I don't know how much better it'll go." The wolf faunus scratched his neck awkwardly, "I've been gone a while, I know he doesn't like that, and he might not be too happy to see me..."

Carmen walked over and took Valen's hand in her own. "He loves you. If he gets mad that you've been gone that just means he missed you." The orange haired man turned away a bit before his wife caught him by his hair covered chin and gently returned his gaze onto her. "He looks up to you, you know?" Carm went on, "He wants to be just like you someday."

Val's look darkened at those words. "Well, hopefully not **just** like me..." he said in a despondent tone. Carmen gave him a sympathetic look, but let her husband continue, "I'm just a gun for hire, Carm. Just a goon people point at problems they can't solve themselves. Oran has to believe he can do better than me. I know I'm not always on the right side of a fight, but the least I can do is make sure my boy has a better chance to understand the world than I ever did, before he ends up-"

"Stop," Carmen commanded bringing a hand to Valen's cheek and stroking it with her thumb. The sudden interruption seemed to work as the taller faunus went silent as his wife went on, "You keep people safe, you fight to stop wars before they start, and I know you've never chosen to fight for a cause unless you believed in it yourself." The gentle smile of the woman before him helped to lift Valencio's spirits. "You're a good man, Valencio Bellows, a great husband too, and an amazing father. I see only the best of you in Oran, and you wanting more for him only cements how much I love you."

Val's lips curved upward into a lopsided grin as he looked down at the faunus he loved with all of his battered and beaten heart. "Well, that's a lot of hype to live up to," he said as the sense of mirth returned to his voice, "guess I better get to work then."

The two of them stepped back out of the house and into the yard, approaching a giant weeping willow not far from their back door. Among the trees many hanging branches was a small fort made from old looking boards with a few spare shingles on the roof from when Valencio had been doing repairs on the house. The treehouse was a bit wide shaped, coming to a point on two sides and vaguely resembling a ship of some kind with a few extra boards nailed into the trees bark as a makeshift ladder leading down to the ground.

After a comforting squeeze on the hand by Carmen, Valencio stepped forward. "Ahoy there!" he shouted up the tree in a distinctly pirate voice, "Permission to come aboard, captain?"

There was the sound of scuffling around inside the treehouse before the front door- or more accurately, it's hatch- was flung open and a pair of hyena ears sticking out of a mess of orange curls popped out as Oran looked down at Valen. "Dad!" the smaller faunus said excitedly.

"Hey, pup," Valencio said with a enthusiastic smile as Oran started scrambling quickly down the poorly constructed ladder. Perhaps a bit too quickly as one of the loosely nailed boards slipped off and the young faunus found himself falling about halfway down the tree.

Everything slowed down for Valencio. He heard his wife scream as Oran fell, the gazelle faunus stepping past him in a vain attempt to catch their child. She wouldn't make it in time, but luckily she didn't have to. With a quick uppercut in the air, Valen used his semblance to create a tiny whirlwind right beneath his son, stopping the young faunus mid-air and then gently placing him on the ground.

Carmen rushed over to the scared looking Oran, wrapping her arms around him before running her hands through his hair and checking to see if he was okay. Val hung back, this was his wife's area of expertise, not his. Don't get him wrong, he'd do anything for his son, he'd catch him from a million trees a million times if he needed him to, but when it came to the whole "coddling" thing, the mercenary faunus was all but lost as to what to do. So instead he watched as Carm kissed Oran on the head repeatedly to calm him down. The hyena boy was barely paying his mom any mind though, he was just staring up at Valen with an embarrassed look in his eyes.

Val finally decided to approach after letting his wife finish her check up. "Woah, slow down, I'm not going anywhere," he said.

Oran sighed and looked away from his dad. "That's what you always say..." the eight year old said in a disbelieving tone.

"Yeah, well, this time I mean it, okay? I'm back for a while this time," Valencio said as he stepped up to his son and went down on one knee to reach his level before wrapping his arms around Oran, "I missed you, pup."

"I missed you too, Daddy," the orange haired boy said as he reciprocated the hug.

The wolf tailed faunus let go of his son, instead putting his hands on his shoulders and giving Oran a light shake as he looked him up and down. "Look how big you're getting! Pretty soon you won't even need that ladder for your fort, you'll be hopping up in one step!"

Oran laughed. "Yeah! I'm gonna get bigger than you, Dad!"

"Oh yeah?" Val said as he held out one of his arms for his son to latch onto his bicep with an eager smile before he effortlessly lifted the orange haired boy above his head. Valencio let out a mock gasp of surprise, "Oh gods! It's happening! Have pity on us mortals, gentle giant!"

Oran squealed in delight as his dad lifted him up and down a few more times, until the older faunus noticed his wife giving him an insistent look. Valencio stopped and gently placed his son back on the earth. Best to get this out of the way now. "Hey Oran, you mind if we have a man to man talk?" he asked.

"... Ok..." the hyena faunus said hesitantly.

"I'll go get dinner started," Carm said as she went back towards the house to let Valencio and Oran speak.

The two faunus males took a seat under the weeping willow as a warm wind blew past them. "So... how're things going, buddy?" Val asked, unsure of where to start.

"... Fine...?" Oran said cautiously.

"Really? Everything going okay at school?" the wolf tailed faunus could have seen his son tense at the question from a mile away. Needless to say, he didn't really need Oran to give an answer after that. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Oran replied bluntly.

Valencio wrapped an arm around his son and pulled him closer. "That's fine if you don't want to talk, but your mom and me? We're just worried is all. If there's something we can do to help you should tell us, right?"

"I'm fine!" Oran shouted out, "it's everyone else that's stupid!" the small hyena boy slumped back against the bark behind him, crossing his arms across his chest.

And so Valen felt himself getting a little closer to the real issue here. Was Oran being bullied? Immediately, Valencio's paternal instincts -or maybe his faunus ones- had him wanting to crush whatever or whoever had dared to try and hurt his kin, but he knew that wasn't the right solution here. That was how Val had solved problems in his own life, it wasn't the lesson he wanted to teach his son.

"Well, can you tell me why they're 'stupid'?" the elder faunus asked.

"... I don't know" Oran said quietly. "They call me dumb just because I don't talk to anyone in class... and even when I do, they just make fun of me." The tiny faunus pulled his legs into his chest and curled into himself, "They're mean. I don't like any of them," he said darkly. Val could see a few sparks of resentment in his sons green eyes, he knew that look all too well.

Hate had sent Valencio Bellow down a bad path early in life, and it had all started at around Oran's age. The older faunus knew he had to say something to change the course the hyena boy was headed down, but he had no idea what. The answer came to him easily enough however, he just needed to say what he wished someone had told him all those years ago. A truth he'd had to learn the hard way, but now had the chance to teach his son before it was too late.

"You know, I barely knew my dad..." Oran looked up at his fathers words with the kind of look that said whatever his young, impressionable self heard next would shape the man he'd become. So yeah, no pressure on Valencio or anything. "He was always off on business, and my mom... went... somewhere far away when I was really young," the wolf tailed mercenary danced around the issue with his words as best he could, not wanting to add explaining death to his still young son to his list of jobs today.

"That's sad," Oran said, leaning his head on his dad's shoulder.

"Yeah, it was. I didn't really have a lot of friends either. It made me angry too, but I never had anyone to talk to about it growing up," Valen continued, "Instead I just stayed angry, I guess as a way to hide all that sadness and loneliness I wasn't dealing with. I just... want you to know your mom and me are here to listen if you need us."

Oran was quiet for a minute, before asking, "... Your dad didn't help you?"

Valen let out a joyless laugh. "Nah. I tried to talk to him about it, and I believe his exact words were 'suck it up'. Pretty sure I punched him in the face for that one." Oran's eyes went wide in surprise, and his dad couldn't resist a sad smirk "Yeah, I know, I guess I kinda blamed him for the way things turned out with me. The last time I talked to your grandpa was... just before he... went away too..."

"To where your mom went?" Oran asked.

Val nodded wordlessly. Honestly, he was a little surprised at how quickly his son seemed to be picking up on the subtle hints he was laying out. The mercenary always had lingering regrets over what had happened with his late father. There last meeting had been especially rough, the harsh words exchanged still stung in his head, even though that was when Valencio had found out his dad was leaving him the house, but it wasn't so much that he'd given it to him, it was the way it had been given to him. All his life, Valen's father had called him a worthless delinquent, and that way of thinking hadn't even changed when the old faunus was on his death bed. The house was given more as a challenge than a gift to the wolf tailed man. A last chance from his dying dad for Valencio to make something of himself. Whether it had been an act of generosity, or a taunt, it didn't matter, because in Valen's head, he'd risen to the challenge and turned that house into a home, one with a loving wife and a kid who'd grow up to be twice the man Valencio and his dad had ever been. In a twisted kind of way, he hoped that'd be enough to give his old man some kind of peace in whatever afterlife that bitter bastard had found.

Taking a moment to shake the thoughts from his head, Valencio went on, "But that's got nothing to do with what I'm trying to say here. What I'm getting at is; there's always gonna be people in the world that are bad, mean, or 'stupid', and all you can do is either join them, be just as angry and cruel to people as they are, or you can try to make the world a better, happier place by rising above their hate." Oran stared off into space, seemingly processing his fathers words. "I'm not saying you have to be a total pushover, gods no, I'm just saying don't deal with it like I did. Don't punch all your problems away, always try to make friends over enemies. Trust me, making people smile feels waaaaaay better than making them sad."

"But people are jerks," Oran said with a hint of distaste.

Val frowned. "I know, believe me, I know," he said leaning his own head onto his sons who was still resting on his shoulder. "But sometimes in life you're gonna meet people who are angry... angry like I was, and it's important to know that it's more than likely that the reason they're like that is because someone else made them that way. Then, you have to decide if you're going to make things worse by fighting them, or take the one and a million shot at making them feel a little better. Whatever you choose, it's just important to realize that you have to learn to interact with other people in your life, even the 'stupid' ones. All thats important to me is that you try, okay?" Val straightened up against the bark of the willow and looked down at his son next to him, "It gets easier the more you practice, trust me. Do you think you can do that?"

Oran sighed. "Okay, I'll try," he said begrudgingly.

"Thattaboy," Valencio said as he lightly scratched his sons head, right behind his hyena ears, making the faunus boy smile slightly. Unfortunately, said smile faded quickly after and the two fell into a uncomfortable silence as they sat there. Luckily, if there was one thing Valen was good at, it was breaking up awkward silences. The wolf faunus smirked, "Hey," he said, getting his sons attention, "what do you call a Beowolf with carrots stuck in it's ears?"

Oran's eyes went wide with excitement and anticipation, "What?" he asked, a look of wonder and suspense all across his face.

"Anything you want, it's not like it can hear you." Oran snorted loudly in delight, and Valencio wasn't about to stop there, "What do you call an Ursa with no teeth?" Oran smiled brightly as he waited for the punchline in silence, "A Gummy Bear."

The hyena boy broke into a fit of giggles at the joke, Valen loved that sound. The jokes he shared with his son might be of questionable level of quality, but it was a long standing tradition in the Bellows house that Valencio would always share the new ones he'd heard after being away from home. Carmen would usually react to the jokes Val and Oran shared with an eye roll, but she was terrible at trying to hide the smiles they occasionally brought her.

"I've got one!" Oran said much to his fathers surprise. He raised an eyebrow at his son which the younger faunus took as his cue to continue, "Why shouldn't you trust a Boarbatusk with a secret?"

"Why?"

"Because they always squeal!" Oran blurted out. Valencio let out a gruff chuckle that was completely overshadowed by the hyena faunus next to him howling with laughter at his own joke.

Val had to admit, it was a pretty good one, but the smile his son now wore was infinitely more enjoyable. "I'll make you a deal," Valen said, "you promise to try hard at school, and we'll go on one of our camping trips with Uncle McCaw this weekend."

"OK!" Oran said excitedly.

"Then it's settled. Let's go help mom with dinner and then we can get to planning for the trip," Valencio replied, scooping Oran up and placing the squirming, giggling hyena child on his shoulders.

Valencio Bellows was never one to believe in gods or higher powers, but despite that, he felt blessed. So many things had gone wrong for him growing up, but somehow he'd ended up with an amazing wife, a beautiful, healthy pup, and a life he never could have even dreamed of back then. Maybe not perfect, but more than he felt he could have ever deserved.

And so the Bellows family had dinner together, and it was full of laughs, love, and good food, a return to normality from the hectic days Valencio had spent away from his home. As time past, the sun set on this bright, beautiful day in Villa, and turned into what would be a dark night for it's inhabitants.

* * *

After dinner was done, and all the dishes were cleaned, the family of faunus retired to their living room. Val and Carmen sat side by side on their sofa, with Oran draped across the two of them sound asleep as his mother ran her fingers through his orange hair. The fireplace crackled as the logs in it burned, filling the room with an orange glow and warming its occupants as an unusual chill had filled the night. Carm removed her hand from Oran's hair to turn the page of the novel in her hand and the faunus boy immediately started to stir, until the gazelle faunus resumed stroking him at the base of his canine-like ears. Valencio was leaning on his wife's shoulder, his arm wrapped around her waist as he just sat and enjoyed the quiet of his home for as long as he could. The tired mercenary let out a content sigh as he felt his eyelids starting to get heavy.

Suddenly, Valencio's scroll let out a loud buzz as it vibrated, making the sleeping faunus child on top of the two of them raise his head for about half a second, before it fell back into his mothers lap. Valen shook his head in amusement, he swore that kid could sleep through anything. The mercenary fished his scroll out of his pocket and groaned at the name "McCaw" on the caller ID. He'd really hoped to have at least one night to himself before his old friend would be calling upon him for those favors he'd mentioned.

Carm set her book down on the nearby end table and leaned over to see who was calling, furrowing her brow in confusion as she saw who it was. "What could he need at this hour?" the faunus woman asked her husband.

"One way to find out," Valencio responded as he gently moved his sons legs off his body so he could stand. Carmen scooped up the faunus boy in her arms and began carrying him up the stairs to his room as Val finally answered his scroll, a sarcastic line already on his lips, "Really dude? You can't go one ni-"

"Val, amigo, listen," McCaw's voice came in clear on the other end of the line, and the wolf faunus could make out the exhaustion and panic in his voice that made Valencio's hair stand at attention on the back of his neck, "I just got attacked by some guys outside of town."

"Are you alright? Where are you?" All sense of joking had disappeared from Valen's tone as the soldier part of his brain took over.

"Yeah, I'm fine, amigo, better than they are at least," McCaw responded, still sounding a little winded. "They were pretty relentless though, I uh... had to kill two of them, but managed to take the last one alive." Valencio winced a little at the confliction in his old friends voice. Killing wasn't uncommon for huntsmen, they didn't only ever fight Grimm after all, but the faunus mercenary knew his old teammate had always been a bit too soft when it came to such things. "That's not why I called though," McCaw went on, "I need you to meet me at the old power station in the forest to the north so I can question him to find out how many more of them there are here."

Valencio let out a harsh breath, he was glad his old friend was okay, but it was practically midnight and he was just starting to get settled in. Did McCaw really even need him for this? "Listen, man... I know I said I'd help, but can't you just go to the police with something like this?"

"That's the thing, Val," McCaw said, the distress in his voice growing, "these guys who jumped me? They were wearing grey cloaks and gold masks."

Valencio almost dropped his scroll at that. A cold feeling crawling up his back at the description. "You said the power station, yeah?"

"That's right, the supply shed inside it. Should be far enough out that no one will-"

"I'll be there in fifteen," Val said without hesitation.

"Thanks, amigo," McCaw said in relief. "Sorry for dragging you away like this, but we both know what happened the last time we tried to lock these guys up in a cell."

"Yeah, I know," the wolf faunus said running a hand over his slicked back hair. "I'll see you soon."

Valencio stood there in his living room for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in hopes that he'd wake up from the nightmare he was having. Unfortunately, when he opened them, he still found himself in the same place, about to face ghosts from his past he'd hoped would never show there faces again. First thing was first though, he had to tell his family where he was going. So the faunus trudged up his stairs to Oran's bedroom, leaning against the door frame as he watched Carmen tuck his son into bed. The wolf tailed man smiled at the sight, but then his smile fell, "I have to go," he said in a quiet voice.

Carmen spun around and gave her husband a look of surprise and confusion. Before she could even ask, Valen spoke, "McCaw was attacked."

The antlered woman's face switched to concern. "Is he okay?" she asked. Carmen hadn't known McCaw as long as Valencio had, but still knew him as her families closest friend, as well as an "uncle" to Oran, so naturally she was as worried as he was.

Val tried to give a convincing smile. "Nah, he's a tough old bird," he said, "he just needs my help tracking the guys, to make sure they don't go after anyone else." It was only a partial lie, but still hurt the mercenary to say it. He just didn't want Carmen to worry about him while he was gone.

The gazelle faunus let out a short, quiet laugh, "Back one night and already off chasing bad guys with your friends. What a shock," she said walking over and giving her husband a kiss. "Be safe," she whispered close to his ear.

There was the sound of rustling sheets behind her that got both parents attention. "Daddy?" a barely awake Oran said, "You're leaving again?"

Valencio crouched down next to the bed. "Just for a couple hours, pup," he said, running a hand over his sons hair, "Your uncle just needs me for something."

"When are you coming back?"

Valen looked into his sons barely open green eyes, "Tell you what, if you go to sleep now, I promise that by the time you wake up, I'll be home."

Oran yawned sleepily, "Okay... I love you, daddy.."

"Love you too, pup," the wolf faunus placed a kiss between his sons hyena ears and then stood up. The tired hyena boy settled into his sheets and was asleep in seconds. Valencio gave his wife one final goodbye and then left his house.

Once he was outside, the sound of crickets surrounded him, the shattered moon hung peacefully in the sky above. Valen closed his eyes and flexed his hands before spreading out his fingertips and running off into the darkness. A rush of wind shot out of his hands and propelled him forward at unnatural speeds as he blew through the forest and in no time at all found himself in town. Even pushing his semblance to it's limits, it would still take a while to get through the quiet town and to his rendezvous with McCaw, which meant Valencio had plenty of time to reflect on the events that lead him to this night...

It was years ago, back when McCaw and himself were in their junior year at Shade. The two of them, as well as the rest of team MRVL, had been on a routine training mission with a licensed huntsman. It wasn't just any huntsmen though, it was the legendary Crimson Dragoon himself, the silent scourge of Grimm, to say the younger Valen had been excited would have been an understatement. The mission had seemed simple, a small faunus village had been receiving threats by a mysterious group ordering the people of the village to relocate or "face overwhelming consequences". Many of the villagers had dismissed the threats as a local bandit gang looking for protection money, but the Dragoon was the one to notice that no request for lien had been given, only the promise of violence, so he'd taken the job, and saw it as an excellent chance to teach the next generation of huntsmen and huntresses. But even a pro with years of experience can become complacent and make mistakes.

The attack came in the middle of the night, two days before the deadline that had been listed in the threat. No one had expected it, they came from seemingly nowhere, a large group of at least fifty men in grey cloaks with golden masks over their eyes, attacking indiscriminately against any faunus or any human trying to defend them. It would have been a slaughter if the huntsmen hadn't arrived earlier than expected with his students. The fight raged into the night, and despite the efforts of Dragoon and MRVL, many faunus were killed that night. That wasn't all though, two of Valen's teammates, and closest friends, Rainé and Lorelei, had also been grievously injured in the battle, and that was all it took for Valen to snap.

His semblance, the winds he controlled, they were monstrous, and it had taken him years of practice to learn to control them. That night however, when he saw his friends fall to the ground in pain, he found himself against an opponent that deserved no mercy and he let those winds run wild, decimating the men in masks, and unfortunately, most of the village. With the army crippled, Dragoon was able to make a final push to scatter the enemy. Some stragglers fled, and only a handful were taken alive. They were put away in the villages jail to await the proper authorities, but when the sun rose the next day, all the prisoners were dead. An autopsy would later determine they'd had cyanide tablets hidden in there teeth and used them to take their own lives to avoid interrogation.

That night had been a breaking point for Valencio Bellows, and despite Dragoon's insistence, he blamed himself for losing control and causing almost as much damage as the group of assailants had. Not only that, but Rainé had succumbed to his injuries and died the morning after the battle, and Lorelei's had been so severely hurt she was forced to give up any future as a huntress. McCaw and Valen were the only ones to get away unscathed, more or less, but that hardly mattered to the wolf tailed student who dropped out a week or so later. Team MRVL was no more. McCaw was all that was left, and managed to scrape by and graduate as a fully fledged huntsman the next year.

That night still haunted Valencio. The violence he'd witnessed from the unknown group made it hard to sleep at night sometimes. He never got so much as a hint of as to who those men were, and he'd hoped he'd never hear from them again, but a part of him always knew better. Now, they were back, and if it this reunion had happened anywhere else, the faunus would have just let it go, but his family lived here, and he'd be damned if he was going to give these assholes any chance of repeating the atrocities they committed all those years ago.

With that final bit of conviction, Valencio arrived at the old power station, skidding to a stop as he arrived. It was quiet, the old building had been abandoned years ago when the new Atlesian made generators were set up on the other end of the city. The small maintenance shed on the side of the building was a one room structure with a single entrance and two broken windows on each side, it's old shingles on the roof looked like they might collapse any second. Sure, it wasn't much to look at, but if you needed to interrogate a prisoner in the middle of the night far from anyone who would hear the screams, it was the ideal location.

Val sighed as he approached the shed, he barely tapped his knuckles on it before the door was flung open and a revolver was thrust in his face, it's blade almost scratching the end of his nose. To his credit, Valencio didn't even flinch at the sight of McCaw pointing a gun at his head, he just cocked an eyebrow at his old friend before using his index finger to gently push the weapon away from him. "A little paranoid, don't ya think?" he said with a smirk.

The stouter man holstered his weapon with a flourish and a grunt, "Well considering the night I've had, I think I'm exactly the right amount of paranoid." Valencio had to agree, his friend looked like hell. He had one black, swollen eye, his poncho was torn more than usual, even his hat had a few new holes in it's brim, and his face was covered in dirt. The most noticeable thing however, was his bandana was gone, revealing his friends large, bird-like beak that it hid, as well as the long, ugly crack going through it's upper half. It wasn't that McCaw was ashamed of what he was, but beaked faunus tended to stick out like sore thumbs and being a huntsmen required at least a bit of anonymity. That, and the bird faunus thought his scar made him look a little creepy.

McCaw stepped aside to let his friend enter the shack and reveal the brown haired man in grey armor tied to an old wooden chair in the center of the room underneath a single bulb light. "Thanks again for coming, amigo," the beaked man said as he closed the door behind Val and locked it.

"Yeah..." Valencio said, barely hearing his friend as he took in the sight of the unconscious man in front of him. If McCaw looked like hell, this guy looked like something even deeper. His face was so swollen that honestly the wolf faunus couldn't tell if his eyes were even open, a small trickle of blood was coming out of his ear, but that was nothing compared to the large red gunshot wounds the man had in both his kneecaps. "Geez, you really gave him hell, huh?" Valen said trying to hide his disapproval, "So what's next? Breaking out the car batteries and metal clamps?"

McCaw looked away in shame. "I just didn't want him to run off, you know I don't like this kind of stuff, amigo. But trust me when I say, it was me or them. I guess guys haven't exactly softened up over the years." The red garbed huntsman leaned against the wall and gestured with his head to a small table off to the side, "He wasn't carrying much, but I put his stuff on that table over there."

Val walked over to see the small gold mask resting on the table. A familiar chill ran up his spine at the sight of it. Aside from that, there were a few throwing knives and a standard, run of the mill, steel sword, that was all. "Hmm. Guess it would be too easy if they carried a wallet or fanny pack with an ID in it," Valencio said with a scoff. He picked up the small mask cautiously and turned it in his hands, "But it's definitely the same style of mask as before." McCaw nodded in affirmation silently. Val put the mask back down, "So all we know is he's from the same group that attacked us back when we were in school," Valencio said with a frown, his sharp canines being exposed by the grimace he now wore, "and on that note, I only care about what he knows. I don't really give a damn who he is."

"Oh, but we care about who you are."

Both faunus turned to face the now awake man giving them both a dark look with a pair of hazel eyes that appeared to contain no semblance of a soul. "We've been looking for you for a long time, Valencio Bellows."

Val raised an eyebrow, "Sorry, do I know you?"

"Me? No, I don't matter. I'm just a messenger, after all. But you do know **us** ," the man said with a sick smile. "We never forgot your insult all those years ago. That hive of Grimmspawn was meant to burn that night, so said our noble leader, but you and your acquaintances interfered. Now you face our judgement."

The mans voice sent ice water through the two faunus' veins. The friends exchanged looks, before Val stepped forward, "Well, sunshine, you found us. Congrats," the mercenary said sarcastically. "So tell me, exactly what step of your plan involves being tied to a chair and getting the piss beaten out of you?"

"The final one," the prisoner said, seemingly unfazed by the obvious taunt. "Soon you and all your kind will know our fury," the man raised his head, as if basking in the small amount of light the bulb above him provided as he spoke. "All beasts shall suffer at the Hand of Humanity."

Silence filled the room for a moment. "Okay..." Valen said, before punching his prisoner square in the jaw, sending the chair skidding back a ways. "I'm not even going to pretend to understand what breed of crazy your going on about, but you attacked my friend and now to know why!" the faunus man snarled.

Through bloody teeth, the man smiled, "You have nothing to threaten me with, dog."

Val smiled, "Really? What if I offered to sign your cast?"

"My wha-"

The man barely spoke before Valen brought his heel against his prisoners shin with all the force he could muster. The loud, sickening crack it made guaranteed the bone was broken. The man screamed in agony, but eventually those screams changed to laughter as the man looked up at the faunus with wide, crazy eyes. "You're a mutt! Biting and barking at shadows," he said, his smile becoming almost sadistic. Valencio was about to hit him again, but refrained, violence was getting them nowhere clearly, no matter how cathartic it was. Since the assault had been paused momentarily, the man went on, "There is nothing you can take from us that we are not willing to sacrifice for our cause. You however, Mr. Bellows, have so much to lose..."

Val stared at the man in silence as McCaw stepped forward, "What are you saying?" the huntsman asked, a hint of fear sneaking into his voice.

The crazed man turned to the beaked faunus, "If you're going to kill weeds," then he looked to Valencio, "you must be sure to pull out it's roots."

Valen's eyes went wide in horror.

"I do hope you enjoyed seeing your family again, Mr. Bellows. One. Last. Time."

Valencio's restraint was shattered and the wolf tailed faunus punched the man in the face again, so hard this time the chair he was in slammed against the wall, cracking the bricks behind it slightly, and the grey dressed man went still. There was a wild look in Valencio Bellow's eyes that even had McCaw taking a step back in caution. Val stood there breathing heavy, "SHIT!" the tailed faunus swore loudly in frustration before spinning around and whipping the only exit open. He was greeted by the sound of a rifle firing into his chest, his aura blocking the shot with an orange glow, but the force sent him stumbling back.

McCaw kicked the door shut and went to help his friend, only to be cut off by another bullet coming in through the broken window, grazing him. "Damnit, this was a setup!" the beaked man said in aggravation, before turning to Val with panic in his eyes and shouting, "Look out!"

Suddenly Valen was tackled from behind, the man who had previously been tied to the chair knocking him to the ground. The now free prisoner had snatched one of his knives off the nearby table and raised it above him, ready to plunge it into the wolf faunus' chest. With an insane look in his dark eyes, the man shouted, "ALL BEASTS SHALL SUFFER AT THE HAND OF-"

 **BANG  
**  
A bullet exploded through the mans head, killing him instantly as blood rained down on Valencio. McCaw stood there, his still smoking weapon drawn and his eyes narrowed. "You assholes need a shorter catchphrase," the parrot faunus said, then he rushed over to help Valencio stand, "You okay, amigo?"

"No! I need to get home! Now!" Val shouted as more bullets started raining down on the shed.

The two friends pressed themselves up against the wall in an attempt to find cover, but the thin walls of the shed were only having marginal success holding the fire at bay. "This is bad," McCaw said, bringing up his second revolver as he tried to peek out the window, but the gunfire was too intense.

Valen wasn't even listening, he only looked forward, everything around him slipping out of focus. His family was in danger, and he was powerless to help them.

"Damn it!"

* * *

Carmen Bellows was sitting on the couch, she'd continued her reading after her husband had sped off. Oran was asleep in bed, but the gazelle woman found herself simply too anxious to sleep. She knew her husband had tried to put her at ease about what he had to do tonight, but his eyes had betrayed a sense of nervousness that Carm had never seen before, and so she found herself awake, waiting for her husband to some home. Carmen turned the page of her novel and yawned, pushing a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.

Then there was a sound in the kitchen, a soft metal clanging that shattered the silence of the Bellow family home and made Carm jump in her seat. The antlered woman's eyes locked onto the next room, she cautiously set her book on the end table at her side. The faunus stood slowly and crept into the kitchen, sticking her head in and seeing a spoon laying in the middle of the tiled floor, which was perplexing, but perhaps more concerning was the back door being open.

Carmen froze at the sight. That was impossible, she knew she'd locked it after Valen had left. The faunus began scanning the room for anyone that may have slipped in. Maybe her husband had come back early and was trying to sneak up on her again? She dearly hoped that was the case. Not seeing anyone, the faunus woman quickly stepped across the room and closed the door, locking the deadbolt with a satisfying 'click'. She let out a panicked breath, then turned back to the kitchen to pick up the mysteriously discarded spoon, or she would have, if she hadn't been stopped when a man in a gray hood stood in her path.

Before the caramel haired woman could even scream, the man lunged forward, pressing his palm against her mouth and slamming her into the back door. Carmen let out a muffled yell before she felt a blade against her throat and she went silent.

"Don't scream," the man's voice felt like cold daggers on the back of Carmen's neck. The command caused all the color to drain from the gazelle faunus' face. The grey cloaked intruders features were hidden behind a golden mask with a terrifying face carved into it, and from this close, the scared woman could see a pair of piercing orange eyes staring back at her from behind it, burning with contempt. "If you do scream, you'll wake up that abomination upstairs, and I'll have to deal with him first. Do you understand?"

Carmen didn't nod, she couldn't even breathe, she just stared back in horror.

The masked intruder cocked his head to the side, before pressing the blade against the faunus woman's neck a little harder. "I said; Do. You. Understand?"

The antlered woman barely moved her head in what could vaguely be considered a nod, but the man didn't stop pressing his blade against her throat. "Good," he said coldly. "We're going to wait for your husband to get home, and then..." the cloaked man leaned in closer, "all of you are going to die."

Tears started welling up in the faunus' eyes and a scared whimper escaped her still covered lips. The fear of her family being hurt made her produce a small struggle, but all it did was confirm just how much this man outclassed her in strength.

"Until then, remember what I told you," the man said as he brought his blade up to just under Carmen's chin, "don't scream."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **A/N- CLIFFHANGERS! WHO LOVES CLIFF- (Broken beer bottle is thrown at head) Ok, that's fair.**_

 _ **Look. It's been forever, and I keep getting more and more e-mail alerts about people who are watching this story and I felt guilty so I just wanted to upload something for them, okay? OKAY!?**_

 _ **So yeah, to those new arrivals I say; Thank you for coming! Friendly reminder; Reviews make my writing hand work a liiiiiiiittle faster *wink wink* no pressure or anything, but I do appreciate every watch and review and try to respond them to if I'm able to.**_

 _ **See you soon!**_


	20. Cold Steel

**Chapter 19- Cold Steel**

Bullets continued raining down on the small shack where Valencio and McCaw were trapped. Whatever glass had been left in the windows covered the floor now as the constant fire tore through the old bricks like swiss cheese. The two faunus knew they didn't have much time before their only piece of cover was ripped to shreds. Valencio didn't care though, right now his mind was plagued with the horrific thoughts of what might be happening to his family right now.

With a snarl of frustration, Val pulled out his weapon- a small dagger that bent at the handle at a 135 degree angle, one of two he kept on his belt holster- and went to lunge out of cover. He was greeted by a bullet grazing his cheek, drawing blood, before his former team leader and partner tackled him to the ground, a shimmer of red light going off from McCaw's aura as he was pelted with fire when he leapt out of safety to stop his friend.

"Stay down!" the parrot faunus ordered, "Let your aura recharge!"

"I don't have time!" Valen shouted back, shoving the huntsmen off of him, "You heard that asshole! They have my family!"

"I know!... I know..." McCaw said, calming his tone to try and rationalize with his friend, "but if we act stupid now and both get killed, then no one is going to be able to help them." Valencio sneered up at his friend, then stopped, and took a deep breath as his red eyes started to cool down and his partners words finally got past his anger. "Okay," McCaw said diplomatically, knowing his old friends temper could reignite without a moments notice, "now lets stop and think. This place isn't going to hold much longer, so we need a plan. Any ideas, amigo?"

Val let out a sigh as the bullets continued to fly. He couldn't help but be remined in that moment why Ms. Evergreen had chosen McCaw as the leader of MRVL way back then. Metal was literally falling from the sky, obliterating the only thing saving the two of them from becoming hole filled corpses, and this guy was able to not only take a moment to assess the situation, but also calm down an emotionally compromised teammate.

No wonder he was able to graduate after everything that happened, Valen thought to himself. The two faunus went back into cover, then the wolf man finally got to planning.

Okay, so, the front door would be a good choice if the objective was a quick death. Not ideal, but let's put it in the "maybe pile" for now.

Going down fighting doesn't sound great either, especially since they try to pop us as soon as we stick our heads out. Which is a shame, because bird brain could mop all these suckers up in a second with his semblance.

I could probably knock out the back wall with a burst of air, make our escape that way, but if these guys are half as smart as they were before, they've probably thought of that.

Plus, if I start knocking down walls the ceiling will probably-

The ceiling. Yes! That could work! McCaw won't be happy, but...

At that moment, the parrot faunus began to notice Valencio looking straight up with a disturbingly familiar smirk on his face. The wolf faunus turned to face his partner and the smile grew wider. "What are you..." McCaw's eyes went wide, "No no no no no no no no, hell no, not again!"

Even with imminent death approaching, Valen let out a short laugh. "Hey, you're the one who asked for ideas," Valencio said as he leaned back on the wall behind him, "this is me giving ideas."

"Good ideas!" McCaw shot back.

"Well you should clarify next time!" Val yelled over the sound of bullets coming down on the bickering faunus. Outside, voices could be heard shouting orders, and getting closer. "C'mon man, we came up with that move back during our Shade days and hardly ever even used it," the wolf faunus reasoned.

"Because you never caught me!"

"Oh, one time-"

"SEVEN! Seven times!"

"Oh... right... well, this time I will. Promise."

"Val..." McCaw said, aggravation seeping into his tone.

The gunfire intensified outside.

"UGH! FINE!" McCaw relented, "But I swear to god, if you drop me this time, I'll-"

Valencio put a hand over his heart, "I said I promise," the faunus swore with a serious look in his eyes, getting into position, bringing both of his arms down low, " Y'know... probably."

"Wait, wha-"

Val thrust both his hands into the air and the roof of the shed exploded off into pieces. McCaw managed to get off one final look of disdain at Valencio before he was launched upwards by a second gust of wind when the wolf faunus threw his hands up again.

The sound of gunfire died out as the assailants in the dark were taken aback by the sudden explosion, just as Valencio had hoped. McCaw was screaming against the force of the wind as he soared upwards like a crimson comet. Then, as he reached the apex of his trip, time seemed to slow down as he pulled out his two revolvers from beneath his poncho and his green irises lit up in the night. The confused gunmen hiding in the brush became even further perplexed when their own bodies started giving off a green glow as well, unaware that they'd all been affected by the faunus' semblance as soon as he'd laid eyes on them.

McCaw's semblance was a pretty lackluster one on paper. If he wanted to, he could make people light up the same color as his eyes just by looking in their direction. Nothing too exciting, except when you consider the parrot faunus didn't need to actually "see" people to illuminate them. Anyone standing in the direction he was looking would be affected, hidden or otherwise. Still not too threatening of a semblance for a professional huntsman, but McCaw had spent his life perfecting it, as well as his gunplay and accuracy.

The faunus looked down at the forest full of glowing silhouettes below him. Their were twenty enemies surrounding the two of them, he had twelve shots, and it would take multiple bullets to crack their aura's. Math was not on their side here, so McCaw decided to improvise. He pointed his bladed revolvers, not at the enemies, but at the rifles they were holding, more specifically, the dust chambers on each of them.

Tiny targets, moving erratically, hiding behind trees and other bushes, and he'd be shooting while in a freefall... McCaw was disappointed, he had hoped this would at least be challenging, maybe he could try closing his eyes as well?

As time started to move again, the falling faunus started firing. From on the ground, the gunmen finally snapped out of their stupor and raised their weapons to continue shooting, only for some of them to be surprised when their guns exploded in their faces. Others received shots to the head and torso, shattering their aura's and sending them to the ground. In the air, McCaw was spinning wildly, guns pointed in different directions as he fell and continued to take out as many men as he could. After spending all his shots, the beaked faunus pointed his revolvers at the area in front of the shack and pulled the secondary trigger on each gun, firing off the blades on the ends of his weapons. The blades imbedded themselves into the ground just in front of a group of assailants rushing the small shack, then, with a another pull of his trigger the blades exploded in a red, dust filled explosion.

His weapons spent, McCaw looked down to see the earth rapidly approaching. "Please catch me, please catch me, please for the love of god-" McCaw said to himself in a panic as he started flailing in the air, looking not unlike a bird trying to flap his wings, desperate to stay airborne.  
Thankfully, just as he was about to splat back in the room he'd been launched out of, a giant tornado of air appeared below the parrot faunus, slowing his decent and letting him land -relatively- softly on his back. The beaked man laid there breathing heavily, taking advantage of the moment of silence outside to collect his bearings. "I really... REALLY... hate that move," McCaw said between breaths.

Val smirked down at his partner. The thought of a bird faunus with a fear of heights was still pretty amusing to him, but now wasn't the time to make jokes. He offered his friend a hand to help him stand, and the poor faunus was pulled up onto his still shaky legs. "Did you get them?" Valencio asked, slight impatience in his voice.

"I got enough of them," McCaw replied, wiping away the panic induced sweat on his brow before reloading both his revolvers and replacing the blades he'd fired, "I cleared a path for you, amigo. Get moving!" Then the parrot faunus kicked open the door to the shed and continued firing on the remaining forces, doing his best to get their attention on him and off his friend as Valencio air-burst himself out of the building and into the forest.

A few stray bullets whizzed past the wolf faunus as he pushed himself to run faster than he ever thought possible. The sounds of his beaked friend fighting against a literal army to buy him time got further and further away as he moved. Val knew McCaw would be fine, he was a huntsman after all. They thrived in situations with million to one odds and the fate of the world on their shoulders and all that. However, the wolf tailed man still couldn't resist looking back over his shoulder in concern. "Stay safe, amigo..." Valencio whispered to himself as he continued to tear through the woods. McCaw would be fine, Val had to just trust his friend to survive for now. He needed to focus on his family and getting them to safety.

After traveling a good distance from the plant, Val was surprised when one of the hooded assassins came out from behind a tree and barely managed to get his hand on his sword before Valen sent him flying with a punch to the face. For half a second the wolf faunus wondered why one of these creeps was so far out from the place they'd ambushed McCaw and himself, but the thought was immediately pushed aside as the orange haired faunus finally made his way back to Villa; Another step closer to saving his wife and son. Unfortunately, that's when he started to smell the smoke.

Valencio was forced to stop in his tracks at the scene awaiting him once he left the forest. Villa was in flames, and everywhere the faunus looked he saw more of those gold masked monsters attacking civilians. People were running around in a panic, screaming for help as the towns guard did their best to fight back against the overwhelming odds. Valen was horrified by the sight. It was practically a mirror image of what the fanatical group had done to that other town all those years ago. This time though, it was all his fault.

These guys, they'd come for him, because of what he'd done that night. Valen had fought back, humbled this "mighty" organization, and now innocent people were paying the price. Even worse, now his family was going to pay that price.

No.

He wouldn't let that happen. He'd get home in time to save them, he had to believe that, but that meant Valen had to keep moving. It meant he couldn't stop for anything... or anyone. Valencio put his semblance into overdrive, shooting himself through the town, blasting away any masked assassins in his way as he rocketed forward. He did his best to block out the screams of victims, he just kept picturing Carmen face, Oran's smile, wanting to protect them both, all the while promising himself he'd come back once they were safe to help all these desperate people he was passing right now. Even as fast as he was moving, that trip through town seemed to drag on far too long, and the wolf faunus had a feeling he'd be reliving this moment for many years to come as he could feel the nightmares being bred in his head.

That didn't matter right now. Val could be haunted and damaged later, when people he loved weren't in mortal danger. With the help of this tunnel vision, the mercenary was able to escape the burning, crumbling city and soon found himself in Villa's countryside, and in the distance he could make out the porch light of his home.

Everything was quiet when Valencio finally got onto his property. As soon as he cleared the tree line, the tailed faunus stopped propelling himself forward, moving into a quiet jog as he approached. His house sat silently in the night, still as a grave, as Val creeped up onto his porch, listening intently for any signs of life, but there was only the continued chirping of crickets around him. The wolf faunus stealthily opened the front door of his house, into his kitchen. A lone light bulb illuminated the room, revealing nothing, just an empty room, no sign of any intruders, and still Valen couldn't hear anything. For a second, the mercenary dared to believe that maybe that asshole had been lying about his family being under threat, or maybe he'd gotten home in time to stop it? That all went out the window when he saw the blood though.

A small splatter in the middle of the floor, followed by a trail of drops leading across the kitchens linoleum and into the closet sized pantry. Valencio's heart was in his throat as he followed the trail, quickly but quietly, stopping outside the closed door to where the Bellows usually kept their cooking supplies and a few odd spices. The faunus put an ear to the wood and could hear something on the other side. It was the quiet, yet unmistakable sound of someone sobbing, and he instantly recognized the voice.

Carm!

That was all Valen needed to hear as he practically tore the door off it's hinges. Inside he saw his wife, tied to one of their dining room chairs, her head down, bobbing slightly as she cried almost silently. Her hands had been bound to the chairs armrests with plastic ties, but Val's eyes went wide when he saw Carmen's left hand was wrapped up in what looked like a dish towel, blood seeping through the white fabric.

Valencio rushed to his wife's side, effortlessly slicing through the ties with his knife. "Carmen! Are you okay!? Who did this!?" he said in a harsh whisper, not sure if the two of them were actually alone right now.

Carmen didn't respond, she didn't even lift her head. It was like she wasn't registering Valen was there, the faunus woman just sat in place, even after being freed, quietly repeating, "I didn't scream, I didn't scream, I promised I wouldn't, I didn't..."

The wolf faunus stared at the woman he loved in terror, he couldn't imagine what she'd gone through, but she was safe now. Val reached up to gently place his hands on Carmen's cheeks, lifting her head so she could look into his eyes. "Carm, I'm here, it's Valencio. Everything will be okay," the wolf faunus said.

Carmen's green, tear filled eyes seemed to gain a bit of focus at her husbands voice. "V-Valen?" the gazelle faunus whimpered as she finally seemed to be able to see the man in front of her and a spark of hope returned to her lifeless expression.

Then that hope turned to fear, Carmen's pupils shrank as she looked over Valencio's shoulder at something behind him.

Time froze for Valen, the hair on the back of the wolf faunus' neck stood up straight. His semblance made it so he could feel the displacement of the air, and he could tell someone was behind him without even looking. The person who'd attacked his family most likely, and they'd just made their last mistake.

With a roar, Valencio spun around, deflecting the blade that had been pointed at his back with the bracer on his right hand. The faunus didn't even look to see who had attacked him, rage filled his red irises as he pulled back his left hand and delivered a punch with the strength of a hurricane. The blow rocked the Bellows' families kitchen, knocking everything off the countertops and shattering the windows and causing the hanging light to violently sway back and forth, but the resilient bulb remained on. The dark figure that had tried to attack Valen was sent flying out the front door, knocking the closed entrance off it's hinges as they disappeared into the night.

Valencio turned back to his wife and gingerly took her undamaged hand. "Carm, sweetie, listen to me; Lock the door, don't open it for anyone but me, okay?" he said before kissing his wife on the forehead, between her antlers. Carm stared back wordlessly, but gave a small nod. Val smiled once more at the traumatized faunus before storming out of the pantry and closing the door behind him. There was a satisfying click as he heard the deadbolt get fastened on the other side and the wolf tailed man gave the door a satisfied smile. Carmen was safe, the pantry was like a panic room, Valen had designed it that way on purpose and he'd never been happier to be just a little too paranoid.

The wolf man scanned the kitchen for any sign of the intruder, but there was nothing, just a long list of home renovations Valen would have to take care of once all this was over. Maybe he'd scared him off? I mean, Val did huff and puff and sent that asshole flying, but these guys didn't seem like the type to quit easy. So then where would they have-

Realization crashed into Valencio's mind.

ORAN!

The wolf faunus turned to run and was immediately met with a slash across his chest, sending him sliding back. Aura was the only thing that kept Val from being sliced in half.

For the first time, Valen saw his attacker. Just like all the others that had attacked him that night, he wore a grey cloak, matching body armor, and a golden mask. However this one's mask covered his whole face and had a grisly visage carved into it. Strands of silver hair were peaking out from behind it and Val could make out a pair of burning orange eyes glaring at him. In his left hand, the man held a golden sword, curved like a serpent, and its grip was bent at an angle, making it's wielder hold the weapon more like a baton than a blade. Even with only a quick look, the faunus could see the pistol worked into the handle on the weapon. Unfortunately, a quick look was all Valencio got as his assailant went in for an other quick strike.

The wolf man barely had half a second to backflip out of the way as a lightning fast slash tore through where he'd just been standing, he wasn't sure if his aura could take another hit like that. The masked attacker didn't slow down as he followed up with another swing, then another as Valen continued to flip backwards, eventually hopping up onto the countertop when he ran out of space. The faunus then leapt off the counter and delivered a downward punch, cracking the kitchen floor, but ultimately missing his nimble opponent as the cloaked man slipped back out of the way. However, a little distance was just what Valen was hoping for, as he whipped out his daggers, both of them this time, and flung them at this intruder.

The man in grey jumped into the air, twisting his body as he did, and the two weapons sailed above and below their intended target, but they had provided an adequate distraction. Val rushed in and managed to land two big punches to his opponents chest, each powered by bursts of wind, and then delivered a solid kick into the masked mans stomach. The assassin went tumbling back, but immediately went to go back on the attack as soon as he found his feet. What he didn't expect was the two daggers that he thought he'd dodged came flying at his back, slashing his side as they passed and returned to a smirking Valencio's waiting hands. His weapons unique shape let the wolf man move them through the air by controlling the wind, kind of like a boomerang.

"That all you got?" Val asked before leaping upwards and slamming a knee into his enemies chest and knocking him away again.

The masked man clutched his midsection and growled, the first noise he'd made this whole fight, then rushed in again. Valencio gave a condescending sigh, as he prepared to counter, but then the cloaked figure went in low and slid between Val's legs. The intruder was only out of the faunus' eyesight for a moment, but suddenly Valen felt several, impossibly fast strikes to his back and neck, making him fall forward onto his knees. The orange haired mercenary rolled over as quick as he could, only barely bringing up his daggers to block a downward strike. The masked monster pressed down hard with his golden sword, orange eyes flaring up in frustration as his weapon was forced closer to the faunus' face.

Valen sneered up at the man above him before planting a foot into his chest and launching him out one of the broken windows and back into the darkness outside. The wolf tailed faunus stood as quickly as he could, taking a moment to catch his breath, the overuse of his semblance that night was starting to get him a little winded. He took the precious moments of rest to try and figure out what had just happened, how had this guy moved so fast after slipping behind him? Something to do with his semblance? If so, why wasn't he going that fast all the time? Val's rest ended when he heard something coming at him from the window on the opposite side of the house and he spun to see his attacker had somehow managed to run around the circumference of the Bellows' large home and leap back through a window in a quarter of the time it should have taken him.

Too fast! How!? Val thought as he futilely tried to block, only for the mans blade to stab him directly in the shoulder. There was a bright flash of orange as the faunus mercenary felt a sharp pain where he'd been hit. Valencio gave a quick wave of his hand and wind pushed his enemy back but the damage was done. He looked down to see blood under his vest, not a enough to make him worried, but definitely enough to make him mad. The hooded figure didn't stop, going in for a follow up attack, but Valen was pissed now, and that meant things were about to get turbulent.

With a quick uppercut, the enraged wolf faunus sent the assassin slamming into the ceiling with a blast of wind. There was an unsettling crunch at the impact and as the man fell Valen started making elaborate movements with his arms, collecting the air around him into his hands before thrusting them outward at his opponent, sending a huge ball of wind at the masked man. As soon as it hit it's falling target, the entire house creaked as the wind attack exploded, sending the intruder flying into the cabinets behind him, shattering the wood, as well as his aura with a flash of grey light.

Valen winced at the sight. Not out of pity for the guy he'd just decimated, but for the damage he was doing to his house. Time to wrap this up before he huffed and puffed and blew this whole place down. Valencio got into a ready stance, but then stopped when he noticed something. The mans mask was on the floor in front of him. The faunus looked back to his attacker, the hood the intruder wore falling back as he struggled to stand revealing his face as well as the fact that this man was hardly a man at all, he was a kid.

The assassin Valen had been fighting for his life with appeared to be nothing but a teenager. Silver hair, a fairly plain looking face, the only truly striking thing about him was his eyes. Burning orange, filled with the kind of hatred Valencio had never seen before in someone so young, and those eyes were focused squarely on him. The mercenary hesitated at that moment. He didn't want to kill a kid, he didn't need that on his already quite crowded, guilty conscience.

But then he thought about what this bastard had done to Carm's hand, the way she'd looked when Valencio had found her, how he'd left McCaw behind to fight an unwinnable battle against this assholes friends, his son still upstairs, asleep and defenseless, and suddenly all reservations disappeared from his mind. Val knew there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect his family, and with that promise to himself he threw one of his knives right at the teenagers heart.

The young attacker managed to deflect the first dagger with his blade, and then catch the second one Valen threw behind it between his fingertips before whipping it back at the faunus' face. Val leaned to the side to dodged, his eyes following the dagger as it passed him and he reached back to catch it in mid air, again taking his eyes off his opponent for only a moment. That was all it took for the assassin to clear the distance between them, seemingly impossibly fast for the umpteenth time, and slashing at Valen's back. The wolf man yelled in pain as his aura shattered, but he regrouped quickly, turning to stop a second strike and the two fighters locked weapons, but with Val only holding his one remaining dagger now.

Okay, seriously, How is he this fast? The question rang out in Valencio's head again. And why isn't he using that speed all the time? Is there some kind of limit? Can he only use it in short bursts? Honestly, Valen was at a loss at this point trying to figure out this guys semblance. There was no way to tell really, he hadn't even see him actually use it-

A lightbulb went off in the faunus' head as the puzzle was solved. He smirked at the kid standing across from him, clenching his teeth in rage as he tried to force his body to put more pressure on his opponent. Val chuckled, "You're pretty fast, huh?" he said as his grin grew, "but only when no one can see you, isn't that right, kid?"

The hooded teen didn't answer, he only looked angrier, probably at being called a "kid", as he started pushing harder against Valencio, and the faunus found his feet starting to lose purchase on the ground. Val grimaced as he felt himself starting to lose this battle of strength, then he saw his other dagger on the floor behind the assassin. The wolf man concentrated his semblance and brought a foot up before slamming it down, making a burst of air come up from the floor, the uniquely shaped weapon caught the air beneath it and made a beeline to it's wielder, straight through his opponent if it had to.

Unfortunately, this was not to be, as the hooded assailant ducked just in time to dodge the projectile. However, Valencio smiled as his opponent fell right in to his trap and he caught the knife, then took advantage of his attackers dodge putting him off balance to break the stalemate the two were in. There was a moment of surprise on the orange eyed attackers face as he felt himself get left wide open, and Valen was not so soft as to not relish in that look a bit, before he took his shot. The faunus slashed upwards with his freshly caught dagger, catching the teen directly across his face and blood splattered across the wall.

The hooded assassin stepped away, clutching his face, but not screaming as he donned a literal crimson mask. The cut was long and deep, going from the left side of the boys chin up across his nose and straight through his right eye. The teen just stared out his one good remaining eye at Valencio, the hate and spite behind his look was palpable now. He was boiling with anger as he seethed through clenched teeth and raised his sword again. Valen readied himself for another attack, but honestly he could barely find it in himself to fight anymore. This kid was a mess now, hardly a threat at all in the faunus' eyes, but if this little prick wanted to go another round, Val was all too willing. The fight was almost over, that is what Valencio Bellows believed, and he was right, but it wasn't going to end the way he thought.

The teen flipped his sword around in his hand, instead choosing to point the gun barrel of his weapon at Valen. This was a surprise for the wolf faunus, as the assassin had yet to even use this part of his tool in the fight, but he wasn't worried, he could block a bullet no problem. However, it wasn't until the bloodied teen pulled the trigger that Val realized he wasn't the target. The bullet sailed past him and the orange haired man watched as the sole lightbulb hanging in the kitchen, that had held up so well throughout this deadly skirmish, the only source of illumination in the night at the moment, was shattered with a flash of electric dust.

The small burst of light briefly blinded Valen, and even with his faunus enhanced night vision, it still took about half a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but that was all the time the teenager needed.

Valencio felt a cold chill travel up his spine as a single word cut through the darkness. The first word his opponent had spoken to him all night;

 _"Die."_

* * *

Valencio and Carmen had often joked that their son, Oran, could sleep through anything. The two of them could have loud conversations with multiple guests in the living room just beneath their sons bedroom and the hyena faunus wouldn't even stir, but when a gun shot tore through the silence of the Bellows' home, the orange haired child's eyes popped open. It wouldn't have lasted long normally, as the still half asleep hyena boy's green eyes were about to close again just as quickly, but then there was a humungous crash downstairs and suddenly Oran found himself quite awake, sitting up straight in his bed.

The canine eared faunus tip toed out of his bed and into the hallway. "Mom?" Oran called out quietly, his hands beginning to shake. The house was dark, but the hyena boy didn't reach for a light switch since his eyes had already adjusted to the darkness. "Dad?" he called out, a bit more desperation in his voice as he reached the stairs, his heart beating quickly in his chest as panic started to build inside the pup. Upon slowly descending the staircase, Oran was shocked at what he saw, a destroyed kitchen and a huge hole in the wall leading into the living room. There, sitting on the floor, leaning back against the couch was the prone form of his father.

"DAD!"

Valencio could barely make out the sound of his sons voice as he struggled to maintain consciousness. He managed to open his eyes after a brief struggle, and stared down at his bloodied and broken body. His torso was covered in cuts, the lights had barely been out for a few second and the wolf faunus had managed to count at least seventeen slashes hitting him before the pain became too much for him to bear and he honestly lost count, and then that's when he'd been thrown through the wall. It had been quite a busy evening for him.

Yet for all that damage he took, Val didn't feel any pain at this moment. He didn't really feel anything in fact... That... was probably a bad sign.

He couldn't move. He could barely breathe. The winds... didn't respond to him... it was like they'd left him.

But just before he was about to black out, he saw a small figure running over to his side. There was no way Valencio could mistake that mess of orange hair for anyone else. "Oran..." he said groggily.

Oran kneeled onto the floor next to Valen with tears streaming down his cheeks. "Dad..." the hyena child said as he grabbed a handful of his fathers bloody vest in his small hands, clutching it tightly as he cried.

Val just stared at his son, then he started coughing loudly as he felt a thick liquid filling his lungs, and he saw Oran recoil back in fear, but Valen stopped him, cupping his pups cheek with his hand. His son just looked at him, wide eyed, terrified. The wolf faunus gave a cynical smile, did he really look that bad right now? He didn't... he didn't want this scared face to be the last expression he ever saw his son make.

"Oran... it'll... be okay..." Val said between shallow breathes as he gently stroked his thumb against his sons cheek. The hyena faunus looked even more horrified by this at first, but eventually clutched onto his fathers hand with both of his own, desperately holding on. Valencio smiled weakly at this. "Don't.. be afraid, pup," Val coughed again, cutting himself off. Oran's face darkened at this, so Valencio did his best to stop himself as he continued, "It's all going to be okay... just... just smile, Oran. Remember to smile and everything will be okay..."

Oran looked at his dad in confusion for a second, then, slowly a sad smile spread across his face. Valencio smiled back, so proud of his son, then he started to feel a creeping coldness spread over him. His eyes grew heavy, and just as he was about to close them, satisfied with the last thing he saw in this life was his sons smiling face, he saw a dark figure coming up behind Oran.

The hooded assassin -mask reacquired- raised his sword above his head, and using the last drops of adrenaline in his body, Valen grabbed his son by the shoulders and threw him to the side.

Oran tumbled and rolled across the floor. There was a slick, wet sound, followed by a pained grunt by his father, and the young faunus looked up to see a hooded figure holding a sword that was plunged into his dad chest.

Valencio stared up at the teen stabbing him, the masked intruder staring back, this time with only one orange irises shining under the mask. The gray cloaked assassin pushed his curving blade in deeper and Valen gasped loudly as his blood started to pour out onto the floor. With the last bit of energy he had, the indomitable wolf faunus glared up at his attacker and raised a fist, pointing it at the teen in front of him. A small gust of wind started to gather around his hand,

but then the assassin gave his weapon a harsh twist, there was another grotesque sound, and Valencio Bellows body went limp.

Oran stared wide eyed at the scene as his whole world came crashing down around him.

"DAD!" the hyena faunus screamed.

The hooded man whipped his head around to face Oran, a low growl slipping out from behind his mask. He started making his way towards the frightened young faunus, taking slow, deliberate steps to really drag out the fear he knew he was instilling.

Oran crawled backwards as fast as he could, but soon found his back pressed against the wall. There was nowhere for him to run. The murderer stood over the horrified faunus and cocked his head to the side. "Filthy Grimmspawn," he croaked out, exhaustion from the earlier battle clear in his voice.

Then, the golden mask wearing figure raised his blade again, ready to cut down the child before him without regret.

Oran's life should have ended right then and there, but humanity -faunus included- would never had thrived in such a harsh, unforgiving world without evolving to overcome the darkness that plagued the lands. As the hyena faunus raised his hands in defense -for all the good it would probably do- an ethereal orange light started glowing over the young boys body as his aura activated for the first time in his short life. But alas, the light that would protect him from harm started from his heart and worked it's way out to the rest of his body, and the assassins blade was too quick, the aura was just making it's way up to Oran's arms when the blow hit...

* * *

McCaw ran raggedly through the forest back to the Bellows' house. Behind him was the militia of Villa, the same one that Valencio had returned home with earlier that day, they were the only reason the parrot faunus had managed to survive after he'd sent his best friend off to save his family. The militia had managed to help the guards repel the attack on the city, and sent what remained of the enemies running. Now they'd joined up with McCaw and were rushing to the aid of the Bellows family.

The red poncho wearing faunus' hat was long gone, it had fallen off during the skirmish and he hadn't cared to take the time to pick it up, so his short, red hair with streaks of green and blue was on display. His own aura was nearly depleted, and had even been broken more than once during the fight. He was exhausted, but he had six bullets left, an army of mercenaries following him, and a friend that needed saving, now wasn't the time to rest.

The Bellows' home appeared on the horizon, and McCaw broke into a sprint, ignoring his bodies pleas to stop. He got to the house first and kicked the back door clean off it's hinges, revealing the grisly sight inside. He saw Valencio and Oran on the ground, both covered in blood, and then there was a man standing in the darkness over the younger faunus, his golden blade soaked crimson.

That was all the faunus needed to see as his eyes flared green and so did the figure before him. The man in grey -now green- looked down at himself in confusion before six shots rang out in quick succession, hitting the masked intruder two times before he managed to block the last four. The glowing man staggered back, then looked up to see a furious, beaked man leaping towards him with a scream of anger and the blade of his revolver aiming for his neck. Unfortunately, McCaw's attack hit nothing as the masked man rolled to the side before leaping out a nearby window and disappearing into the night. The parrot faunus could see his enemies green silhouette retreating outside and would have followed, but his body had given all it could give that night and soon his quickly moving foe left his semblances range.

For a moment McCaw stood there in the darkness on the off chance assassin would return, he stood protectively over the fallen Bellows, daring anyone or anything to come at him. Soon the rest of the militia finally caught up, entering the home and taking in what had happened to there fellow militia members family. No words were said, everyone was silent as they took in the horror of the scene.

McCaw looked down at Valencio's corpse, and his strength finally gave out as the parrot faunus fell to his knees. "I'm sorry, amigo... I failed you... all of you," the bird faunus brought a hand to his face, wiping away a single tear. This had been his post, one he'd taken gladly, without question, at the request of his best friend. His responsibility was to protect Valencio and his family and he'd failed, just like he had all those years ago with team MRVL. What was the point of being a huntsman if it meant he had to keep watching people he loved die? He'd survived all those years ago, and even managed to hold himself together long enough to graduate from Shade, but how was he supposed to come back from this? Despair clung tightly to McCaw's heart in that moment, and as he turned his head to look at Oran -little Oran, who'd called him 'uncle'- he wondered why he'd ever even bothered to-

Suddenly the lifeless looking Oran let out a weak cough and McCaw sat up straight.

Had he just... imagined that? Was it even possible? The beaked man rushed to the small hyena boy and placed his ear over his heart. It was weak, faint, but it was unmistakably a heartbeat that he heard.

Oran was alive. Somehow, someway, he was alive.

McCaw clutched the barely clinging to life child to his chest. "I need a medic!" he shouted to anyone that could hear him.

* * *

Oran's eyes felt heavy, but with a bit of force he was able to open them. The brightness of the room he was in made him have to close them again right away, but after a moment of adjusting he was able to see the pure white room he was in, as well as hear a steady beeping coming for a machine next to him. The hyena faunus laid there for a while staring at the ceiling, wondering where he was and how he'd gotten here, before pushing himself up on his elbows. His eyes were still all gross and crusty like they usually get after a long nap, but right now they seemed about one hundred times worse, so the groggy child raised his hand to rub them clean.

Except he didn't have a hand.

The faunus boy stared with wide eyed horror at the sight of the tightly wound bandages covering his forearm, but his hand was completely gone. He started shaking, then brought up his other arm revealing it to be exactly the same. Handless.

The beeping from the machine got louder and faster and soon alarms started to blare as Oran began hyperventilating as memories flooded back into his head.

That night.

His dad.

The man in the gold mask.

Everything.

The traumatized hyena faunus hugged himself tightly, or as best he could considering, as terror built up inside him, culminating in a bloodcurdling scream.

McCaw burst into the room, followed by several doctors, and he rushed to the boys side, grabbing his shoulders, "Oran! It's okay, you're okay!" he said, trying to calm the young faunus down, "I'm here, it's me, Uncle McCaw is here! Just breathe, kid!"

Oran finally managed to control his breathing, recognizing McCaw and collapsing into him as he cried. "Where- where's my dad!?" he shouted into his uncle's poncho.

The parrot faunus knew he didn't have to answer. He knew that Oran knew full well what had happened, so instead he just held the poor boy close and said softly, "I'm so, so sorry, Oran..."

The two sat there as the doctors checked over Oran as best they could seeing as how McCaw refused to let him go. Eventually Oran managed to force out a second question, "My- My mom?"

The beaked man was hesitant to answer at first, but eventually told him, "She's... she's fine, Oran. She's down the hall. It's just... your mom's been through a lot, just like you, so-"

"I want to see her," Oran interrupted, pushing McCaw away as he went to get out of bed.

One of the doctors went to stop the hyena boy, but was too late and as soon as Oran tried to stand his legs gave out from under him and he fell to the floor. "You can't be up and about yet! You've been unconscious for weeks, the muscles in your legs need to regain there strength! Get back in bed this instant!" a dark haired doctor commanded, and he went to grab the young faunus by the arm only to be grabbed himself by McCaw.

"I'll take him," the bird faunus said. The doctor opened his mouth to say something in response, but was cut off when McCaw stepped close to him, getting right in the mans face. "If you want to try and stop me, be my guest," the beaked man said without leaving an ounce of room to negotiate. The doctor gave a scared look before backing away slowly, allowing McCaw to gently lift Oran to his feet, supporting the young faunus as the two left the room.

While they walked, McCaw took a moment to take in Oran's presence. He was alive, but that was actually the least surprising news of the last couple weeks in regards to the hyena faunus. The kid had activated his aura, at such a young age, and on his own no less. Such a thing was practically unheard of in the world, and spoke volumes of the young man's potential.

The cost, however, was far too high. Oran had lost both his hands. There had been so much blood that night when McCaw found him he hadn't even noticed how damaged the appendages were until the doctors got to him. They were shredded beyond any level of healing, and while prosthetics had already been ordered from Atlas, the bright future that had been opened up by Oran awakening his aura seemed to have been snatched away just as quickly. Oran had always wanted to follow in his father and uncles footsteps, learning how to fight to defend himself and others, but without actual flesh and bone hands the odds of any future as a huntsman seemed bleak at best, and as far as his semblance went, there seemed to be very little chance he'd ever even be able to use it now.

Unlike most, the Bellows' family had the gift of a hereditary semblance. Valencio had it, so had his father, and it stood to reason that Oran would have it too. They could manipulate the wind and air around them, limited only by their own, quite impressive, lung capacity. A tremendous power to be certain, but it required hands, or more accurately, complex gestures, to learn how to focus those winds, and there was no guarantee that a Bellows could use that power if they didn't have...

McCaw noticed Oran beginning to walk a little straighter now, not leaning onto his uncle as much. His aura was starting to repair his weakened body all on it's own now that he was awake. The bird man smiled a bit at that. Some said that hardship tempers the strongest souls, so maybe he didn't have to worry about this little pup all that much. He was strong, he was a survivor, and if he was anything like his dad, he was too stubborn to give up. McCaw just hoped he was strong enough to face the reality of everything he'd lost that night.

Villa was gone. Burned to the ground. To make things worse, the Grimm had claimed the entire city not long after the attack, so any chance of rebuilding looked unlikely. The few members of the group that attacked them that they'd captured had all died in prison, just like all those years ago, despite McCaw warning the police about it. This attack must have been planned months ahead of time, it'd been too well coordinated to have been anything else. There had been so many signs in the weeks leading up to it that McCaw had ignored, thinking he was being paranoid, and now look what had happened. He'd never forgive himself for this, he'd already turned in his huntsman license a few days ago, the bird faunus didn't feel like he deserved the title anymore, not right now anyway.

The door to Carmen's room was wide open, the sun was shining out into the hallway from the window inside. The two faunus entered the room to see the gazelle faunus sitting in her bed, propped up on pillows, staring vacantly out the window, sheets covering her lower body. Her hands were clasped in her lap, McCaw winced at the sight of her tightly wrapped left hand. Carmen had lost three fingers to that madman, not to mention a husband, and had her son crippled for life. That night must have been hell for the poor woman. The militia members hadn't been able to find her until the morning after the attack, she'd locked herself in the pantry and refused to open it for anyone, waiting for her husband as she claimed it, not knowing he was already gone. McCaw was able to talk her into opening the door eventually.

Gods, the look in her eyes when McCaw told her what had happened. The Bellows had been torn apart in a single night, so had a lot of other families, but this one definitely hurt the most for the former huntsman. To see the once joyful, bright, laughing woman, now sitting before him looking broken in every sense of the word, it just wasn't fair.

McCaw felt Oran leave his side and walk towards his mother, taking his first shaky steps on his own since he'd awakened. "Carm?" the bird faunus said, trying to get the woman's attention, "Oran's awake." There was no response from the antlered woman. "He... we just wanted to see how you were doing today," still nothing. Carmen had been like this ever since she got to the hospital. She didn't speak, hardly ate, she didn't even really react as the doctors saw to her hand. The quiet was the worst part for McCaw. It'd be one thing if Carmen wanted to yell at him, blame him for what had happened, but for her to just be so... unreachable, so distant, that hurt more than anything she could say to him.

Valencio was dead. It still didn't feel real, McCaw felt like he had to keep reminding himself of that fact. His best friend, his brother, was gone, and already the world felt a little darker. The two of them had been through so much together and now... No, he'd save his tears for later. He may not be a huntsman anymore, but he could still be there for this family, or what was left of it. That's what Valen would want, there was no doubt in his mind.

Oran slowly approached Carmen, unsure of his every move as he did. Carm didn't even seem to register him. "Mom?" the gazelle woman finally seemed to recognize her sons voice and turned to look at him, her gaze immediately going to his hands, or where they should have been. Tears were slowly building behind her eyes, but still the faunus said nothing.

Oran just watched his moms expression. She'd never looked at him like this before, she looked so sad. Was it his fault? Was he making her sad by being here? McCaw seemed sad around him too, was it because he got hurt? Seeing two of the people he looked up to so miserable made Oran feel terrible.

Luckily before the hyena boys mood could get worse, Carmen offered her son a hand. So Oran waddled over and the gazelle faunus picked him up and placed him on the bed next to her, wrapping an arm around her child once he'd settled into place. Then she went back to staring vacantly out the window.

The hyena faunus didn't know what to do. He wanted to cry, but was afraid that would just make everyone sadder. He wished his dad was here, he always knew how to make mom smile. She always said she hated his jokes, but she'd always laugh anyway.

But dad was gone now...

Oran huddled a little closer to Carmen and the antlered faunus returned the gesture by tightening her grip slightly. The orange haired boy hated this, he didn't want things to be this way, but still didn't know what he could do to help, if his dad was here he'd-

"Why are Goliath's so wrinkly?"

Carm tore her gaze from the window to give her son a confused look in response to the bizarre question.

"Because people are too afraid to try and iron them."

The room somehow got quieter, but then a smile cracked across Carmen's face and a tired laugh slipped out. Tears started falling down the woman's cheeks as laughed a little more. It sounded exhausted, but it was a genuine laugh, Oran could tell, and he smiled too. Eventually, the emotionally drained faunus stopped laughing and planted a kiss on top of Oran's head, right between his ears.

"I love you so much, Oran," Carmen said.

"I love you too, Mom," Oran replied, leaning in close to his parent. The faunus boy looked to McCaw, still standing in the doorway, and saw the bird man also smiling now at the sight of the two of them.

Oran felt like the world was a little better now. He wasn't as good at telling jokes as his dad was, but it was up to him to keep his mom happy now. He'd make sure she was okay, and he'd make sure other people could smile again too.

He'd just keep smiling, and everything would be okay.

* * *

The Forge was quiet now as Oran had finished telling his story. The fires had finally died out without any students around to feed them, Nichol and Oran were the only one's left at this hour.

"So... yeah... that's what happened," the usually smiling faunus said with a sigh, "A bunch of physical therapy and prosthetic fittings later and here we are. We moved closer to the kingdom after that, found a nice apartment for mom and me in the city. Mom uh... hasn't left the house much since all that, but McCaw still swings by every now and then to check up on us, and uh... yeah..." It had been a long time since Oran had told this story, and unsurprisingly he still felt himself effected by the trauma it had caused him. It had been years, but it all still felt so fresh to him. Though he had to admit, talking about it to someone felt... not terrible.

Nichol had been quiet the entire time the hyena boy had been talking. At first she'd kept looking up from her task every now and then to show she was listening, but about halfway through his story she stopped. Instead, she seemed to double her focus on repairing Oran's gauntlets, working as fast as she possibly could it appeared. The faunus didn't blame her for that, it wasn't like it was a particularly uplifting story or anything.

"See? I told you it wasn't a very happy story," Oran said with a empty smile, but Nichol still wouldn't look at him as she rushed to finish. "Soooooo, maybe next time you could tell me about-"

"I'm done," Nichol said as she closed the panel on her partners wrist and stood quickly.

Oran was surprised buy this as he studied his now functioning hand, clenching his fist a few times to test it out. The silver haired girl had started off a little rough, but she'd actually picked all this stuff up a lot faster than the faunus thought she would. Just add it to the list of things Nichol was great at, he supposed. Though, honestly he was a little sad their time together was already over. "Wow," he said with an impressed whistle, "Great work, Nic-"

The silverette had already started walking away by the time Oran looked back, storming straight out of the room without a word, leaving the canine eared faunus alone in the Forge, with a huge pile of tools he now had to put away by himself, apparently. Oran sighed as he started storing the equipment back in their respective containers. He wasn't mad she'd left, he understood why someone would after hearing all of that. It was just too much too fast. Not rushing Nichol with this whole "friendship" thing had been at the top of his list when coming up with ways to make this work, and yet he'd just spilt his guts with probably the most personal story he had.

Smooth move, Brainiac. Should have known that would have freaked her out.

It was all his fault, he'd been so desperate to connect with Nicky that he'd pushed too hard. Oran was far from giving up though, the whole 'not being able to talk to her for a week since she'd decided to help him' thing would be tough, but the girl deserved a break from him anyway, and once it was over it was back to work. Besides, with a whole week to prepare, Oran was sure to come up with some way to make that girl smile, right?

Oran stopped working for a moment and put the tool he was holding on the table. Who was he kidding? This stopped being about making a crabby girl crack a smile a loooong time ago. This was something more. He... liked Nichol... like, like-liked, like a lot, a lot lot. Despite a clear inability to articulate these feelings even in his own head.

Sure it made no sense, but that hardly seemed to matter to Oran's weirdo brain. Nichol was aggressive, rude, and had even punched him in the face once, but she was also so... awesome in so many other ways that it just completely overshadowed everything else. There was so much conviction in her eyes, determination, passion, and a whole bunch of other words that made Oran's insides feel all gooey. Not that any of that seemed to matter, Nichol clearly wanted nothing to do with him, she'd never feel the same way, so why bother torturing himself like this? If nothing else, Oran would just be happy if Nichol was happy. After all, that was his job, to make people smile. Be it by telling lame jokes, or punching scary monsters into little black chunks. And all the while, he'd keep smiling too. So that's what the faunus did as he continued quietly cleaning his workstation.

* * *

Nichol continued down the hallway walking faster and faster, eventually breaking into a run, seeming to want to put as much distance between herself and the Forge as she could. She came upon a -thankfully empty- bathroom and rushed inside, quickly stepping into one of the stalls, locking the door behind her before collapsing onto her knees over the toilet and vomiting. Though it did little to alleviate the emotional agony she was in.

The silverette leaned onto the porcelain seat, ready to wretch again, but instead she just hung there, and for the first time in ages, started crying. Loud, angry sobs shook the restroom as Nichol wept, one thought resounding thorough her skull, one name. After swallowing back what was left in her stomach, she spoke that name in a disgusted whisper,

"Sterling..."

Sterling had killed Oran's father. Ruined the faunus' life. Nichol hadn't been sure it'd been him at first, until Oran had described the man he'd seen that night. The cloak, the mask, his weapon, that one, hate filled, burning orange eye, there was no mistaking it.

The Hand of Humanity, her family, her own step-brother had murdered her partners father, tortured his mother, and to top it all off, been responsible for maiming Oran himself. The sheer revulsion the silver haired girl felt at that moment made it hard to breathe between her cries of heartache. Nichol hadn't been there that night, obviously she'd been safe at home with her mom, in training, but not nearly ready for field work. Meanwhile, Sterling had been off on one of his bloodthirsty crusades. Did any of that make her innocent though? No, not in Nichol's mind anyway. The spear wielder was guilty of crimes just as bad as her step brother, back when the two of them shared a more common outlook on life and the faunus in general. How many families had she destroyed herself? She honestly couldn't remember.

Nichol had tried so hard to escape her old life, she'd given up everything for a second chance, but fate and whatever all powerful deities existed in this world had seen fit to place her in a situation so implausible it could only be interpreted as a form of punishment for her crimes. Not only had she been placed on a team of all faunus, but one of them was someone her own flesh and blood had wronged in the worst possible way. Was fate just that cruel?

"...Oran..." the name came out cracked and strained as if Nichol didn't feel worthy to even say it anymore. Her partner wasn't just some orange haired buffoon, not some obstacle in her way, he was a good, kind, caring person, everything Nichol wasn't, and never could be. Oran was just another in the long list of faunus the Hand had hurt in their pointless war, and Nichol? She was the villain in his story. The silverette thought back to what Oreonna had said back when Nichol had hit Oran,

"You call us Grimmspawn, but you're the only monster here!"

It was true, she was a monster, one with regrets maybe, but still a monster none the less.

For the last year the only thought that consumed Nichol's mind was revenge against Sterling, but now, with everything that had happened, she found herself wondering; What then? Assuming the runaway could actually accomplish the seemingly impossible task of killing the man himself, what would it really change? Her mother would still be dead, Oran's life would still be in tatters, and Nichol would most likely still be just as bitter and angry as she is now.

Going even further into the future, what would Nichol do with her life afterwards? Rejoin the Hand of Humanity? Go back to that life of endless violence she grown up in? Or maybe try to change things, like her mother had? The idea was laughable at best. Even if she wanted to go back, the Hand would never allow it, they were all loyal to Sterling and she might as well sign her own death warrant if she ever showed her face at her former home again.

What other options did Nichol have? Exile? Live in the wastes and wait for some Grimm to come finish her off? She supposed she deserved worst, but it was probably the silvertte's only choice... wasn't it?

Shockingly, life here at Shade Academy had put a new possibility in the spear wielders head; What if she actually did become a huntress? At first the training she was getting here was simply a means to an end, but lately Nichol was beginning to find she actually found the ideals and prospect they taught at this school rather... noble. She certainly had the skill for such work, and the tenacity, but did she really deserve such a life?

Of course not, but then again Nichol had been given a lot of things she thought she didn't deserve lately. She didn't deserve a second chance, or a headmistress that was willing to look the other way, and definitely not a team that'd decided to work with her instead of just abandoning the -at first uncooperative- girl like any rational person would have. Yet, she'd been given all these amazing gifts regardless, and throwing them all away just seemed unacceptable to Nichol. So maybe she didn't deserve these things, but she still had time to earn them.

Nichol finally started to regain her composure, wiping away her tears as well as the snot coming from her nose as she shakily stood on her feet, using the stall for support. The silverette took a deep breath as she tried to reestablish the emotional walls she'd built up. With a newfound conviction in her eyes, Nichol exited the stall and then the bathroom itself.

As she walked down the hallways of the academy, she vowed then and there, she wouldn't let these blessings got to waste. Nichol would repay every person that had brought her one step closer to stopping Sterling. Her teachers, her teammates, her mom, she didn't deserve the kindness they'd shown her, but one day, once Sterling was a dead, and best forgotten, memory, she'd pay that debt forward as a protector of the world. She didn't dare dream of anything as sweet as redemption for her sins, but maybe Nichol could do just a little bit of good with her life to make up for all the bad.

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 **A/N- _AAAAAAAAANGST! Now with 99% less Oreonna!_**

 ** _Don't worry, everyone gets a turn!_**

 ** _(Looks longingly at folder labeled Volume 2 AKA I ruin Oreonna's life forever)_**

 ** _Soon..._**

 ** _So things got a little dark here. I don't know why I went so heavy with things. I actually thought about putting a disclaimer at the beginning of this, but after reading it a few times I didn't think it was necessary. Feel free to let me know if I'm wrong though, and I'll be sure to add a warning in the future. But in the meantime, I hope I made you all feel a thing._**

 ** _Also for the two people that are still reading this story and have been paying attention -which you should be as there will be a test at the end- you may have noticed I messed around with Sterling's semblance a little here. I guess I just had second thoughts about the whole "shadow warping" thing, mainly because the whole "edgelord OC with shadow powers" thing seems a little overdone to me. So now he can move really fast when people can't see him, and the way I'm choosing to justify this in story is with what Ozpin said back in volume 5 about semblances "Evolving over time". So who's to say if our least favorite psychopath didn't eventually learn to move so quickly in the dark it was like he was teleporting. That sound good?_**

 ** _Nobody cares? Cool me neither._ **

**_But hey! I can say now that we are officially done with flashbacks for a bit! And I promise the next chapter will actually have our favorite cookie cat in it._**

 ** _Anyway, hope there are still a few of you left reading this out there. I always love to hear from you, in reviews or whatever, really. But if you don't want to that okay to, just happy to have you honestly ;)._**


	21. MOONshot 3- Burying the Hatchet

_**A/N- Ha! Yup! More story plot points that I couldn't find any place to put in the actual story! Though this one takes place only a few days after the last chapter, so I guess this could be considered an "actual" chapter, if only there was a bit of action... But whatevs, we'll get back to teenagers beating the hell out of each other next chapter, I promise. ;P**_

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 **MOONshot 3- Burying the Hatchet**

Oreonna stormed down the hallways of Shade Academy, not quite running, but walking very briskly, as her pink eyes quickly scanned the floor in front of her, searching desperately for something. The cat girl had a clearly distressed look on her face as her tail swung furiously behind her and her left hand was anxiously rubbing the suspiciously empty space below her neck.

 _Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?!_ Oreonna screamed internally as panic gripped her tightly.

How could she have lost her locket!? She'd worn it everyday for months now, ever since that first morning at Shade, but about halfway through her classes for today she'd absentmindedly went to brush some hair behind her ear when the cat faunus noticed the thin string that was usually around her neck was gone. Oreonna knew she'd put on the piece of golden jewelry when she'd woken up this morning, a habit that had become second nature to her, but everything after that was unaccounted for. That meant she had lost it sometime in the last four hours during her morning classes, somewhere on the massive school grounds Oreonna had been traveling across all day. The search area was huge and with every second passing the odds of her never finding her locket grew and grew.

To make matters worse, she'd promised to have a video chat with her dad tonight. The older faunus had been so happy the first time they'd chat through the CCT and he'd seen the golden trinket that used to be Neo's hanging around his daughters neck. He'd tried to play it off as no big deal, but Oreonna could see the pride in his eyes at the simple gesture. The puma man probably took it as a sign that the younger faunus' opinion of her so called "mother" had improved slightly. The cat girl didn't have the heart to tell him that couldn't be further from the truth.

She didn't wear the locket for Neo, that woman wasn't worth the effort in the teenagers mind, she'd abandoned and forgotten about Oreonna decades ago. No, the cat faunus wore the necklace for her father, to remind herself of everything he'd sacrificed and lost to get her here, to Shade, and as a promise that she'd never hurt him like Neo had.

... And now she'd lost it. With only a few hours before her video chat with her dad.

Oreonna could already imagine the disappointment on the old man's face. He'd probably try to hide his sadness, like he always did when his daughter was around, but she knew this would break his heart. No matter what excuse the cat faunus would come up with to explain the lockets absence she knew that just seeing her without it was going to hurt her poor father.

So she had to find it. No matter how long it took. The bell for Oreonna's next class had rung out about fifteen minutes ago. The cat girl had never missed a class in her entire life, hell, she'd never even been late to one before, so this only added to the anxiety she was feeling. But her perfect attendance record was the last thing on the cat girls mind right now. The only thing that mattered was the locket.

So she'd retrace her steps. She'd already tried calling up Maybelle and Oran, but the two of them were already in class so she just left messages on their scrolls asking for help. The cat girl hadn't even bothered trying to reach Nichol, already knowing how that brief conversation would go. Oreonna might have been desperate to find the locket, but she wasn't quite so desperate to ask for help from the crabby, easily antagonized girl. The two of them had been getting along just fine the last few weeks avoiding each other like the plague and the violinist saw no reason to break that trend. That meant the cat girl was on her own for now. She hurried down the hallway and with a quick swipe of her scroll the door in front of her unlocked. Retracing her steps meant starting from when she first woke up this morning. So that meant stop one was going to be her dorm room and at this point Oreonna was ready to tear it apart if she had to.

The cat faunus flung the door open, making it slam loudly when it hit the wall. This caused the rooms soul occupant to look up with a start from the book she'd been quietly enjoying a moment earlier. Oreonna stood in the doorway, her rosy pink colored irises immediately locking with a pair of burning orange ones as Nichol stared back from her bed which she was currently reclining on. The two of them stayed motionless out of surprise for a moment, before the silverette let out a scoff and returned to her reading. The cat faunus scolded herself inwardly for forgetting that this was Nichols free period. What were the odds the one person she was hoping to avoid would be here?

Whatever. Oreonna didn't have time to get into it with her seemingly constantly annoyed teammate. So, ignoring the girl on the other end of the room, the black and white haired teen hastily made her way over to her own bed, quickly whipping off the covers to check underneath. Nothing. She threw her pillow to the side. Nothing. She tore the sheets clean off the mattress. Still nothing. She checked her nightstand -where she usually kept her locket when she wasn't wearing it- then its drawers, and finally going as far as to push the furniture to the side with a loud ' _SKRRRRRRCH'_ across the floor. This earned the cat eared girl an annoyed sound from Nichol, but Oreonna continued to ignore her. Unfortunately, the space behind her nightstand was empty as well.

The cat faunus sighed loudly, earning another grunt from her teammate behind her. Oreonna's head spun around to face Nichol, but the aggravated girl just side eyed the violinist with her head still in her book. It was so tempting for Oreonna to take all the frustration she was feeling and direct it at Nichol right now, maybe even accuse the stoic girl of having something to do with her lockets disappearance, but the cat girl thought better of it. Nichol was a lot of things to Oreonna, but not a thief.

Instead the cat faunus eyed her bed curiously, could her misplaced jewelry have fallen underneath? It wasn't an impossibility she supposed. Getting down on all fours, Oreonna tried her best to stick her head into the space beneath her mattress, despite the angle being awkward and her cat ears getting a little in the way, but with some finagling she managed to get her head underneath her-

"What are you doing?"

Startled by the sudden voice, Oreonna jumped and bumped her head on the bottom of her bed, her cat ears went flat as she growled lowly from the dull pain. The cat girl pulled her herself out from under her mattress to scowl at Nichol who was giving her a strange look now.

However, the silverette seemed immune to the glare she was receiving, probably because it paled in comparison to one of her own. "I'm trying to enjoy what little quiet time I'm allowed," Nichol said with exasperation, "I don't know what you're up to, but perhaps you could do it quieter, or ideally, elsewhere?"

Oreonna tightened her fists in anger. It was the wrong day for Nichol to take that kind of tone with her. Gods did she want to set her straight right now, but that was just the frustration at not being able to find her belonging talking, and it wouldn't help her find it any faster. So the cat faunus exhaled slowly out of her nose to soothe her temper before speaking. "I'm just trying to find my locket, Nichol," Oreonna said as calmly as she could manage, "It was my mom's, so I'm just checking every place I can think of. I'll be out of your hair in a second." The violinist wasn't sure why she'd even brought up the fact that it was her mom's, it had just kinda came out. It wasn't like that was a fact the faunus was proud of, it's just that Neo was the first person she associated with the piece of jewelry, for better or worse.

It didn't matter, as long as Nichol's curiosity was satisfied for a moment so Oreonna could continue her search. After taking a second to shake the dust and cobwebs that had collected in her hair from sticking it under her bed, the cat faunus decided against trying her current approach a second time. She looked back at her bed. It would be easier if she just moved the whole thing to see what was underneath. The small cat girl doubted she was strong enough to push the frame herself, but it was worth a try at least. So the faunus grabbed her bed by the metal holding the mattress and began to push. Predictably, the violinist was unable to move it alone, and after a few moments of trying was about to give up when suddenly the bed started to slide across the floor. The black and white haired girl was shocked by her own sudden display of strength, but then she noticed a figure next to her helping her push. To her own disbelief, it was Nichol.

"What?" Nichol said, not even looking at Oreonna as she gripped the frame tightly, "If it'll get you out of here faster then... just push on three, okay?"

The cat faunus was too shocked to reply, but when the silverette began counting, she snapped back to reality and began shoving her bed with all her might. The two girls were able to move the heavy wood and metal frame with relative ease. Unfortunately, once it was moved, all that was revealed was an empty floor and a few dust bunnies.

The violinist sighed again, sitting down on the floor with her back against the side of her mattress. This wasn't looking good, the analogy about needles and haystacks rang in her head almost mockingly. Was it even worth trying? All for a cheap looking piece of jewelry that honestly brought her more pain than joy? Something that served as a constant reminder of the abandonment issues that still haunted her to this day? Her dad would be disappointed, sure, but was Oreonna really going to wear that albatross around her neck for the rest of her life just to please him?

... Of course she would. She'd do anything for him. It wouldn't be the first time she'd suffered in silence for someone else, and with the career path she'd chosen it definitely wouldn't be the last. If wearing the damn locket made him happy, then she had to find it.

Nichol was silent in the face of the tempest of emotions the cat girl in front of her was experiencing. Eventually, the spear wielder took a seat on the floor with her teammate, crossing her legs beneath her. After another beat of silence, the silver haired girl asked, "So... that locket you wear, it was your mothers?"

Oreonna looked up at her teammate, surprised Nichol had asked such a personal question, it was almost as if she was trying to learn more about the cat girl. The faunus gave a skeptical look and a noncommittal, "Yeah..." Oreonna was a little suspicious of the sudden interest the silverette was showing in her, this was a weird time for her to suddenly start caring.

Nichol's look softened, much to the cat girls continued surprise. It was a look she'd never seen on the grumpy teens face, Oreonna had grown so accustomed to the constant mask of anger Nichol wore that anything to the contrary seemed almost unnatural. "Um... When did..." the silverette seemed uncharacteristically uncomfortable as she tried to find the words, "When did she... pass..."

The faunus girl was confused for a moment until she realized the way she'd said 'it was my moms' may have given the wrong implication. "Oh no, no, no, no, no," Oreonna said waving her hands in front of Nichol, "she's not dead... er... that I know of, I mean." The violinist was suddenly reminded in that moment of how little Neo had been involved in the last sixteen years her life, "Though to me, she might as well be," Oreonna muttered bitterly, glaring off to the side.

"Don't ever say that," the look on Nichol's face when she spoke could have sent an army of Grimm running in the opposite direction. The way she'd said the words made Oreonna sit up straight, startling the cat girl with the amount of venom behind them. It was different from the silverette's usual darker tone, this was pitch black. The faunus had clearly hit a nerve with that comment she'd made. "Don't ever even think something like that. Not about your mother."

The cat girl was certainly taken aback by her teammates words, but definitely wasn't about to take back her own. "I'm sorry, but you don't get it," Oreonna said angrily, but also quietly, attempting to defuse some of the tension in the air around Nichol with a little more clarification. "Me and her, we just... I never knew her. She left a long time ago. I was barely a year old and she just... left me on my dad's doorstep, like I was nothing." the cat girl said softly, familiar feelings developing in her chest. She actually hadn't gotten around to telling any of her teammates this story yet and could hardly believe it was Nichol of all people that had dragged it out of her first. "I only said what I did because she obviously didn't care about me, so I don't see why I shouldn't offer her that same kindness."

The silverette frowned slightly at hearing this. "No, I'm the one who should apologize," Nichol said, resting her elbows on her knees as she slouched forward. "I shouldn't have assumed anything in the first place." Oreonna was caught completely off guard by her teammates sudden back down. She'd expected another fight between the two of them, not an apology. The two students sat in a long, slightly uncomfortable, quiet moment before the stoic spear wielder spoke again, "Can I ask you a question?" Oreonna nodded reluctantly. "What would you do if tomorrow you found out your mom actually had died? How would you feel?"

Oreonna stared back in confusion at her teammate's sudden line of questioning, but didn't provide an immediate answer, so Nichol continued. "Surely you have questions only she could answer, correct? How would you feel having not only never truly known anything about her, but also knowing you'd never get the chance to ask those questions?"

The cat faunus pondered this for a moment. What would she do if she found out Neo had died? The immediate answer was that she'd feel nothing for the woman, but then Oreonna thought a little deeper on the subject. She did have questions, things only Neo could tell her. Hell, she didn't even know exactly when her own birthday was. Thinking about never getting any of those answers made her feel... unfulfilled. Like her mother held some part of her hostage, and with her death, Oreonna would lose it forever. It was an uncomfortable thought to say the least, that she felt like she needed her mom for anything at all.

"I don't know..." the cat girl relented, "There are things I want to know, but..."

"Mothers are special," Nichol interrupted, "A lot of people only ever get one in there lives," the silverette's frown deepened, "and sometimes they are taken far too soon."

Oreonna never could have predicted her day going like this, with Nichol opening up to her in such a way. "Did... did something happen to your mom?" the cat girl asked. She was just taking a shot in the dark here, but it seemed like Nichol was speaking from experience. The faunus watched as the spear wielders head hung low and her hands clenched tightly in her lap. Yup. Definitely hit another nerve here. "It's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Oreonna said. Then, without realizing what she was doing, the cat girl instinctively reached out and put a hand on Nichols upper arm in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture. The silverette stared at the hand on her with a bit of surprise, and so did Oreonna if she was honest. The faunus remembered back to when Oran had invaded Nichols personal space and half expected to get an earful like the hyena boy had. Instead though, the usually stoic girl's posture seemed to relax slightly as she closed her eyes and sat back up straight, regaining her composure. Not wanting to push her luck, the cat faunus removed her hand quickly, placing it back in her lap.

"It's none of my business, I know," Nichol went on, distancing herself from the cat girls question while also trying to brush off what both students would agree was an awkward moment, "and I'm not trying to change how you feel. That is the right of all sentient beings, to feel anger, sadness, joy, longing, remorse or any emotion they see fit. However, and this may sound hypocritical coming from someone like me but, I've learned recently that when given a choice, hate is rarely the correct one, or at the very least, you shouldn't choose blind hate. You can lose who you are in those kinds of emotions, and find yourself... acting rashly."

The look of regret on Nichol's face was certainly a new one to Oreonna. It had always been aggression, annoyance, and contempt for all things whenever they'd interacted. Her teammate was like a raging beast whom it was best to stay out of the way of. Imagine the black and white haired girls surprise when, instead of a monster, the cat faunus saw a person sitting before her, someone fallible, who'd suffered loss, a loss that Oreonna felt was fairly familiar to her. Who would of guessed bonding over absentee mothers would be a common occurrence in the cat girls life. First Yang and now this. Granted, she didn't know exactly what had happened to Nichol's mother, but it was clear that the two of them would not be having this kind of conversation if there wasn't some kind of baggage there for the stoic girl. They both felt like something was missing, like it had been taken from them, they'd just chosen to deal with things in different ways; Oreonna kept the hurt locked up inside, not wanting to burden others with her own issues, while Nichol seemed to wear her pain on her sleeve, lashing out in anger at anyone around her. One could argue that neither approach was particularly healthy for either of them.

This whole situation still seemed so surreal to the faunus girl. Oran was always telling Oreonna their was more to Nichol than met the eye. He'd spent the most time with the silverette out of all of team MOON, so if anyone would know, the orange haired jokester would. Still though, the cat girl was always quick to dismiss Oran's claims, but based on the evidence presented here, maybe there was something to what he'd been saying...

Suddenly the door to team MOON's dorm burst open, and as if summoned simply by Oreonna's thoughts, a certain hyena boy stormed in. "Yo, Oreo! You'll never guess what I-" Oran started then suddenly stopped at seeing the cat faunus was not alone in the room, covering his mouth with one hand to cut off his voice at the sight of Nichol.

The spear wielder groaned audibly before standing and walking back over to her bed. "It's okay, Oran," Nichol said as she picked her book back up, "you can still talk to Oreonna, just not me personally." The silverette sat back down on her mattress and continued her reading. The cat faunus gave her teammates a look before remembering hearing about the deal the two had made involving Oran giving her partner a 'week of the sweet gift of silence' in return for helping the hyena boy with a 'personal problem'. The black and white haired girl hadn't bothered asking questions regarding this deal -or just what the hyena boy had meant by a 'personal problem'- but apparently Oran was taking his vow very seriously.

His freedom of speech seemingly magically restored, Oran turned to Oreonna excitedly. "Oreo! I just got your message, and you'll never guess what I found after Dew fired another burst of sand into my face down in the Coliseum just now!" he said before taking a moment to build dramatic timing before pulling from behind his back-

"My locket!" Oreonna said happily as she reached out to take the small golden trinket from her friends hands. She studied the item quickly, checking for damage, but aside from a little sand it appeared fine. The string that held it however, had snapped right next to where Oreonna had tied a knot to keep the locket in place, that must be how she'd lost it. "Thank you so much, Oran," the cat faunus said genuinely as she wrapped her arms around the hyena boys torso in a tight embrace.

"No prob," Oran said, returning the hug, "I've never been happier to get a mouthful of hot dirt."

Oreonna released her teammate and looked down at her locket and suddenly felt a strange cocktail of emotions in regards to it. She'd felt so relieved to see it again, but those feelings of resentment and loss were still prevalent in her mind, now combined with the new feelings that had been brought up from her conversation with Nichol. It was all just so... complicated now, even more so than usual. At the end of the day, despite what her dad would hope for, this thing would still always be a heavy burden around his daughters neck.

The hyena faunus seemed to notice to change in mood and rubbed her neck sheepishly. He opened his mouth to say something, probably a inadvertently tasteless joke to break the tension, but seemed to think better of it at the last moment. "Sooooooo... I should get going... back to class, I mean. Glad I could help. Catch you later, Oreonna," Oran said, turning to leave, but stopping suddenly, looking back to the cat girl and adding, "Oh, and tell Nichol I said goodbye too."

From her bed, the silverette scoffed and shook her head at her partner bending the rules of their agreement, but didn't say anything more on the subject. So with a laugh Oran exited the room, leaving the two girls alone again. Oreonna felt a mischievous smile sneak onto her face, she couldn't resist turning to Nichol and saying, "Oran say's-"

"I heard," the spear wielder said with exasperation, but the cat faunus swore she could make out just a hint of amusement in her tone. That made Oreonna smile a little, but then she looked back at the locket still resting in her palms and the depressing feelings returned. Was the pain this object brought her worth it? The sound of a book closing, and the creaking of mattress springs as Nichol stood, tore the cat girl out of her moral quandary. The spear wielder walked over to the cat faunus and held a hand out. "May I?" she asked, gesturing towards the locket.

Despite her misgivings about the trinket, Oreonna was still hesitant about handing it over to anyone, but Nichol had shown a new side of herself to the cat girl today, and she reasoned that deserved a bit of trust. So, the violinist gently handed over her locket to Nichols open hand.

The spear wielder studied the admittedly unremarkable piece of tarnished jewelry with an unimpressed expression, before popping the latch and revealing the picture inside. Nichols orange eyes seemed to change as she stared at the weathered photograph, there was flicker of sadness in them that struck a cord with the violinist. Almost aggressively, the silverette closed Oreonna's locket tightly between her fingers before handing it back to it's owner.

"That's your mother?" Nichol asked.

Oreonna had to repress an eye roll at what she saw as a pretty obvious question, yet she answered it regardless, "Yeah. I mean, she's really just 'Neo' to me at this point, but yeah, that's her."

Nichol hummed in response, her eyes still focused on the piece of jewelry. "That needs a new string," she said, before turning back to her bed. Oreonna figured that was the end of the conversation, that the silverette would go back to her book now, but to her surprise, the spear wielder pulled her trunk out from under her bed and after unlocking it, began rummaging around inside. The faunus couldn't resist trying to peak over the silverette's shoulder, curious about what she kept in that mysterious piece of luggage, but Nichol's body blocked her view. After apparently finding what she was looking for, Nichol re-locked her case and stood, returning to the cat girls side with what looked like a spool of string and a small pocketknife. "Try this," Nichol said, unwinding a strand of the material and tearing the piece off with the knife, "I guarantee it'll last longer than that scrawny piece of rope anyway." Then she handed the string to Oreonna.

There had been a lot of things Oreonna had been expecting seeing Nichol when she'd first entered the room moments ago. She'd expected either a heated argument, or the two of them completely ignoring each other as they had for the last several weeks. Never in a thousand years would she have thought her grouchy teammate would not only try and help her find her missing belonging, but also offer to fix it.

Dumbfounded, the violinist reached out and took the piece of string. As she touched the material, she realized it was in fact a thin piece of sturdy feeling leather, certainly much better than the old, brittle string Oreonna had used before. Not only that, but upon closer inspection, the cat faunus recognized it to be the same type of leather Nichol used to tie the braids on each side of her face. From anyone else, such a small gesture would be easily dismissed by the cat girl, but this was Nichol she was dealing with here. The fact the silverette was willing to share anything at all was completely unheard of to Oreonna. In just one meeting the stoic girl had undone almost everything the faunus thought she knew about her.

The spear wielder seemed to notice her partners reluctance and offered a shrug. "It's fine," she said with a neutral expression, "I have plenty." Nichol held up the still mostly full spool in her hand for Oreonna to see.

Now baffled beyond words, the faunus girl began stringing the tough piece of leather through the small loop on top of her necklace, adding a strong knot to keep it in place. Yet despite the task being finished, the cat girl still found herself unable to put the necklace back on, the weight of it seemed like too much to bear now. However, she still wanted to make it known to Nichol that she appreciated the, honestly quite shocking, help she'd given. "Thanks," Oreonna mumbled, still uncertain why her teammate was suddenly acting so generously.

"Yeah..." Nichol muttered back. Oreonna was certain that **now** the conversation was officially over, but the silverette just kind of hovered in front of her looking like she had more to say. After some deliberation, the spear wielder finally asked, "Why do you think she left you that necklace?"

The cat faunus opened her mouth to answer, but no words came. She'd... never asked herself that question before. Why had Neo left the locket with Oreonna? It seemed like such an obvious thing to ask, and yet it had honestly never crossed her mind until now. Despite being caught off guard however, an obvious answer soon formed in the violinists mind, and it wasn't exactly an uplifting one.

The faunus scoffed, looking off to the side. "Probably because she couldn't stand to have any reminder of me," Oreonna said bitterly. The pain the cat girl had always associated with her absent mother seemed to burn hotter than ever before at the realization as it clenched tightly around her heart. Neo had hated her. Oreonna had always suspected that, but this seemed to finally set that idea in stone in her head. Her mom had left her in the pouring rain to live with someone else that she'd abandoned, so why would she ever want to keep a photo of her unwanted child? Might as well abandon that too while she was at it. An invisible darkness seemed to settle in the room around Oreonna as she hung her head and the cat girl felt the familiar feeling of tears starting to build behind her eyes. Hot, bitter, angry tears were the only thing besides the locket that Neo had left her daughter with.

"Then why leave it with you?" Nichol asked, bringing the cat girl out of her own dark thoughts for a moment. "She could have left that locket in a million other places. Places where it would never see the light of day or another soul ever again, but I think she wanted you to have it. I think she wanted you to remember her." Oreonna raised her head at her teammates words, "To remember that look on her face as she held you in her arms."

The cat faunus was at a loss for words. Neo wanted Oreonna to remember her? Why? The black and white haired girl had always been content to assume the worst when it came to her mother, but she'd never considered things from that angle before. It was like a new dimension of question had opened up to her. After all these years, could there have been more to her apparent abandonment than the violinist had wanted to realize?

In front of Oreonna, Nichol sighed. "I can see I've upset you with all these rhetorical thoughts and questions, that was not my intention. As I said earlier, it's not my place to dictate how you feel," she said guiltily. "But as you may have guessed, I do have a bit of a... stigma on the subject of mothers." Yeah, the cat faunus had noticed. Oreonna opened her mouth to inquire about this, but was cut off by her teammate. "But that's not a topic open to discussion right now," the silverette was quick to add sternly.

 _Now that sounded like the old Nichol._ The cat faunus thought to herself.

"All I'm trying to say-" Nichol continued, "is that something about this situation leads me to believe there might be a reason why she left you beyond simple neglect. So... please just consider that before wishing death upon someone."

With that, the silverette finally seemed to be finished speaking and began walking back to her bed, but she had one final thing to say over her shoulder, "By the way, don't you have Grimm studies right now?"

Oreonna's eye went wide as her head shot towards the clock on the wall. Her class. She might still be able to get there before it was over. A tardy was better than an absence in any case she presumed. The cat girl looked at the locket still in her hands, Nichols words buzzing in her mind as a swirl of new emotions regarding her belonging and her mother danced in her head. The violinist still wasn't ready to forgive Neo for anything, but the yearning to understand the woman who'd caused her so much grief was stronger than ever before.

Oreonna found herself remembering what her dad had said when he'd first given her the locket.

 _I'm not asking you to forgive her, you don't even have to like her, but if you could just find it in your heart not to hate her, that would be enough for me._

The cat girl took a deep breath before slipping the locket back around her neck. The new material holding it on was actually a lot more comfortable on the back of the young faunus' neck than the rough string she'd used before was. More importantly however, the violinist noticed the weight she had come to associate with the object seemed a little lighter, like the locket no longer felt like a burden to her. Now it was more like a promise not only to her dad, but to herself. Oreonna promised she'd find her mom one day, and when she did she'd get her answers. Until then, the cat girl decided to at least try and reserve judgement on Neo. Make no mistake, she didn't feel she owed her mom anything, least of all the benefit of the doubt, but no longer would she let the blind, hateful, and dark thoughts about the woman plague her mind and embitter her own soul, not until she knew the truth at least.

A new resolve found, the cat girl went to leave the room but suddenly stopped when she looked back at Nichol who'd returned to her mattress and to her book. The fact that Oreonna had come to these new revelations because of the silverette was still a shock to the faunus. The two students had spent most of their time since coming to Shade at each others throats. In fact one might say that the relationship between the two of them -or lack thereof- was the final piece of team MOON that had remained fractured after those troubling first few weeks. Yet at that moment, Oreonna felt like she was looking at Nichol for the first time.

Unfortunately, said looking didn't go unnoticed by the spear wielder. "Did you need something else?" Nichol asked as she lowered her book again, clearly anxious to get back to her reading.

Oreonna let out a quiet laugh. "No, I'm good," she said contently. "I just never expected us to have a conversation like we just did. You know, civilly."

Nichol looked away dejectedly. "I suppose that's fair," the silverette said, "We didn't exactly start out on the best of terms upon meeting, did we?" The orange eyed teen closed her book again and sighed. "My... upbringing has left me with a lot of issues that I'm trying to work through, but that doesn't excuse my behavior back then. I'm also not fantastic when it comes to apologies, but... as I said, recent events have opened my eyes to some truths I've ignored, so to speak, and I'm going to try and be more... tolerable in the future. I want to succeed at this academy, but my attitude was becoming an obstacle, and I refuse to let my former way of thinking drag myself, or anyone else, down with me."

The cat faunus smiled at Nichol. She thought back to the promise she'd made to Maybelle; that Oreonna would try and get along with Nichol as long as the spear wielder tried as well. The cat girl hadn't exactly kept that promise, but here was Nichol, actually trying, maybe it was time Oreonna did to. Her mind made up, the faunus walked over to the edge of her teammates bed and extending a hand to Nichol. The silverette just stared at the outstretched arm in confusion. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Back during initiation, May and I kinda had a 'reintroduction' down in the Catacombs to make up for the awful first meeting we had the day before, which... was almost as bad as our first meeting now that I think about it," Oreonna said with an eye roll as she recalled what Nichol had called her that day, as well as how the cat faunus had gone out of her way to call the silverette out about it in front of all the students in attendance back then, no doubt putting a target on the Nichol's back. It would have been difficult for any two people to have started out on a less right foot, but now she was offering the spear wielder the same olive branch she'd offered their leader that day. "So what if we just started over? A fresh start, for both of us."

Nichol continued to stare at the hand offered to her and after a moment the silverette exhaled loudly through her nose before looking away. "I don't believe in clean slates, Oreonna," she said darkly, "I'm sorry, but I can't ask you to forgive me when I don't think I deserve to be."

"You're not asking me to do anything, this is my choice," Oreonna's words made Nichol's eyes snap back to her teammate. "I don't hate you, Nichol, I don't think I ever really did. Our personalities just clashed so violently in the beginning that I guess we both just never took the chance to even try to understand one another. But maybe now, after everything we just talked about, maybe we understand a little more? Enough to try again? That's what I'd like anyway."

Nichol gave her teammate a bewildered look, alternating between Oreonna's face and her still outstretched limb as she seemed to be pondering this request. The cat girl shifted her weight beneath her as she felt her arm starting to go numb from leaving it hanging there between the two of them. Then, almost shakily, and oh so slowly, the silverette extended her own hand before wrapping it around Oreonna's and offering a quick two shakes before quickly recoiling away like a nervous animal and returning to her book, her puzzled expression never fading.

The agreement seemingly finalized, the black and white haired cat girl spun on her heel and went to leave the room, only to stop again. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled at Nichol who briefly made eye contact before looking away. "Thank you, Nichol," Oreonna said before leaving leaving the room.

Finally alone again, Nichol settled back into her bed, and as she resumed her story her lips curved upwards and she said quietly, "You're welcome..."

As she walked down the hallways of Shade Academy, Oreonna moved with newfound spirit in her step as she clutched at the locket hanging around her neck.

* * *

Meanwhile, on almost the other side of the planet, off in the outskirts of Mistral, in an abandoned factory, a short woman was sitting on a stack of metal storage containers, her crossed legs dangling off the side. The moonlight outside shined in through the buildings tattered roof and gleamed off the locket the woman was holding. This locket wasn't just similar to the one Oreonna had, it was an exact replica, down to the picture inside it, which the multi-colored haired woman was observing with a complex expression. More accurately, her pink colored irises were focused on the baby faunus in the picture.

The woman ran her thumb across the photograph tenderly, before her scroll began vibrating in her pocket. The woman pulled out the device with her free hand and rolled her now mismatched colored eyes in amused irritation at the message her boss/best friend had just sent her.

 **Need help in Vale. Local teenagers are giving me an ulcer.**

The woman wrinkled her nose in aggravation before quickly typing back a one handed message to the orange haired nuisance.

 **I hate Vale.**

Within seconds, she got a response.

 **Didn't ask how you felt about it. New boss is lighting a literal fire underneath me to get things moving over here. Be on the next flight over, or it's both our asses.**

The woman groaned inwardly, before responding with a **;)** knowing her old friend would understand it as confirmation that she'd be there to save his butt... again.

Pocketing her scroll, the woman stood on top of the crate she'd been sitting on, holding the locket between her fingertips by the string it was tied to. The still open piece of jewelry spun in her grip and the moons rays made sure that the pink and brown haired woman was looking directly at her daughter's young face when she let go of the locket, sending it falling to the floor.

The entirety of the golden trinket shattered like glass when it hit the ground, but it had just been an illusion the woman had materialized that had been shaped like her old locket. The hundreds of shards quickly fell away into dust as the now empty warehouse sat in silence. Like no one had ever been there at all.

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 _ **A/N- Eyyyyy! We finally got to see Neo again after like infinity chapters. Also this sets the time frame this takes place in the actual RWBY canon. As her text conversation with Roman reveals this part of the story takes place somewhere during volume one of the actual series. So anyone whose wondering; Yes, we will eventually be going through the actual events of RWBY here. Reeeeeally excited to get to volume two, for obvious reasons. We just got to finish up all these goings on in Vacuo before team MOON makes their way to Vale for the Vytal festival tournament. From there, things should spiral out of control like in the show(possibly more so). So yeah, look forward to that then.**_

 _ **Anyway, next chapter we have the much anticipated (by me at least), totally on time, holiday special of this series. Sounds like a good chance to talk about our emotions and maybe set sail a few ships... (cough cough Cookies and Cream cough)** _


	22. Blossoming

_**A/N- STILL ALIVE! He said bursting from a dust filled coffin. Sorry it's been so long, but I suppose you guys might be used to that by now. ;P But I saw I got a few more followers on this story and it turned out that was just the push I needed to plant myself in front of my computer for several hours. So enjoy! Also, if you are new, feel free to leave a review? It's the little things that push me to get my lazy butt back to work! ...Aaaaaaaand I'd love to hear from you!... Yeah, that too.**_

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 **Chapter 20- Blossoming**

The deafening toll of a bell rang out as Maybelle slammed her weapon into the Coliseum's floor, sending a cloud of sand into the air around her. The attack hadn't really had a target, but was more of a desperate attempt at creating some cover from the onslaught she was under, courtesy of her two opponents. There was a sudden _*BANG*_ and a blast of pain in the cow girls shoulder that reminded her to recount the odds as the still unseen sniper landed another shot on the large blonde target, taking away another chunk of May's impressive, but quickly dwindling, aura. The large grove of recently constructed sand stone trees on the other side of the battlefield provided perfect cover for a sharpshooter while her two teammates, Nolan Porfirio and Roy Stallion, attacked the bovine girl with melee attacks.

Things didn't appear to be going well for Maybelle or team MOON in general, as team BRNZ seemed to have a distinct advantage, in numbers at least. Both Oreonna and Oran had been eliminated already and so far only Brawnz Ni had been removed from their opponents side, and to top it all off, Nichol was nowhere to be found. So, just to recap, May was getting double teamed by- _*BANG*_ scratch that, triple teamed- and no one had any idea where her only remaining teammate was.

The cow girl smiled cunningly. Everything was going according to plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, hidden in the shade of the trees made of sand, May Zedong perched on one of the branches, looking through the scope of her rifle-axe, lining up yet another shot on the tall faunus while Roy and Nolan kept the pressure on her. The beanie wearing girl smirked as she settled into her spot and placed her cross-hairs directly between Maybelle's eyes. The sniper took a deep breath, preparing to fire on the exhale.

"Ahem."

Suddenly, someone behind May cleared their throat and without missing a beat the sniper spun around to fire at whoever had snuck up on her. Before she could line the shot up though, her attacker blocked the rifles barrel with the staff of her weapon, and with a quick spin of the spear, disarmed May Zedong and sent her rifle falling to the Coliseum's sand covered floor. The sniper watched helplessly as her weapon fell out of her reach. Looking back up just in time to see the spiteful glare of the silver haired girl standing in front of her, before she was unceremoniously kicked squarely in the gut by said girl and sent plummeting to the ground alongside her gun.

Nichol scoffed as she watched her opponent fall. That was almost too easy. A sniper was supposed to be aware of **all** their surroundings, not merely the targets ahead of them. Yet the silverette felt like she could have easily taken out the oblivious girl without a sound, but that wasn't the plan. Or rather, that wasn't Maybelle's plan.

The beanie wearing girl rolled as she hit the ground, scooping up her weapon as she did, and quickly aiming up at Nichol again and firing off two quick shots. When she did, a barrier appeared in front of her target and the bullets bounced off harmlessly. Then all May saw was the glowing red tip of the silver haired girls weapon pointing in her direction. This could have been done quickly and quietly, but the orange eyed girl had been given two instructions.

1.) Take out the sniper

2.) Make a lot of noise doing so.

* * *

Maybelle suddenly noticed a lack of sniper fire in her vicinity, which was great because she was getting tired of toying around with Nolan and Roy. The brown haired Roy leapt in to attack with his saw blades only to be swatted back by May's club while Nolan tried to get a quick jab in with his cattle prod, which May was trying real hard to not be offended by his choice of weapon. Don't get her wrong, team BRNZ was by no means a pushover, but both of the boys she was battling against now were mainly close range attackers. The cow faunus had a clear advantage in reach with the long Alexandra Grande. Not to mention, thanks to all her training with Oreonna, Maybelle was now much more adept at fighting more nimble opponents. Which she demonstrated by blocking the saw blades Roy fired off his gauntlets with her club and lashing out with a kick to send Nolan skidding back.

There was no question that if Brawnz and his team had been fighting the quarreling, divided, uncooperative team MOON of a week of so ago, they probably would've mopped the floor with them. However, through all trials and hardship they'd faced recently, the four of them were now fighting as a unit. Even Nichol, who'd by far been the worst of them when it came to teamwork, was now willing to listen to Maybelle's directions and follow her plan, with only minimal eye rolling this time!

Team MOON was definitely coming together... and yet, all the progress they'd made only seemed to make it that much more obvious that something was off recently. The cow girl turned to take a quick look over at the sidelines were her teammates that had already been eliminated sat on a wooden bench. Well, Oran wasn't exactly sitting, but instead was on his feet cheering loudly and holding up hand made sign that read 'Send Them To The MOON!' The only thing more incomprehensible than what the hell that even meant was where the orange haired teen had gotten the supplies to make said sign while sitting on a bench in a desert coliseum. But that mystery would have to wait for another day as May's gaze drifted to the true cause for her concern, the mopey looking cat girl sitting next to the hyena faunus. Oreonna was resting her elbows on her lap with her chin in her hands, looking off to the side, not even pretending to be watching the match taking place before her. Usually, her pink eyes would practically be sparkling in excitement as they took in every aspect of the fight taking place, eager to learn anything she could, but instead the smaller faunus looked like she was a million miles away.

Oreonna had been like this for a couple of days now. It might have been unnoticeable to most, but not to Maybelle. Oreo's smiles just seemed weaker, her laughs halfhearted at best. May knew her partner was trying her best to keep a brave face up for her teammates sake, but it was obvious something was bothering her friend.

The team leader had wanted to bring this up sooner, but things had just been... weird between May and her feline partner ever since the sparring 'incident' between the two of them. Which Maybelle could understand, that whole experience had been a little... intense, especially for someone as reserved and self conscious as Oreonna appeared to be. Hell, even May had to admit that situation was-

 ** _WHAM!_**

A sudden electrified blow to the side of Maybelle's head reminded her that perhaps she should readjust her focus seeing as how she was in the middle of a fight right now. Nolan smirked triumphantly for a moments before it changed to fear as May looked down at the much smaller student in annoyance before grabbing him by his hoodie and throwing the human at his teammate with minimal effort. Both members of team BRNZ tumbled across the ground a bit before getting to their feet to see the cow faunus still starring daggers at Nolan. She REALLY didn't like his weapon.

Luckily before either teen could face the full brunt of the blonde's wrath, an explosion went off in the "forest" behind the two of them, getting the attention of all three fighters. Maybelle smiled as May Zedong's portrait on the large screen hanging above the battleground had a red x flash across it as she was eliminated, courtesy of Nichol she assumed, and thanks the distraction her teammate had made, Roy and Nolan were left wide open. The cow girl crouched low and sprung off her heels towards her opponents, clearing the distance in a flash and catching both Nolan and Roy in one massive swing of her club and sending the two flying into the air. Unfortunately, as impressive as the blow had been, it was not enough to send the boys aura into the red. Luckily the blonde berzerker had a solution to this and quickly whipped around her weapon, opening the canon on it's end, and with a pull of Alexandra Grande's trigger fired a steel ball right into both members of team BRNZ, destroying both of their aura's and knocking them out of bounds.

The buzzer sounded off, signaling team MOON's victory. May smiled, resting her club on her shoulder and wiping the sweat from her brow. Soon after, Nichol made her way out of the -now very destroyed- forest of sandstone trees, dragging May Zedong behind her. The purple haired sniper was out cold, and it looked like her clothes were a little burned, but otherwise she appeared to be fine. The forest behind the girls collapsed back into sand, as did the rest of the constructs that'd been made for this match, and a horned toad faunus on the edge of the coliseum rose from her crouching position, her neck cracking as she stretched it. Then the elderly groundskeeper wandered over to a nearby sun covered rock and laid down on top of it.

Nichol unceremoniously dropped the other teams May as she walked past the snipers recovering teammates, the beanie wearing girl starting to regain consciousness as well. the silverette wordlessly approached her leader, taking position at her side as she waited for Professor Neight's post match evaluation. The cow girl looked across the battlefield as team BRNZ helped May Zedong to her feet, the sniper still looking pretty out of it.

"Went a little overboard. Don't you think?" Maybelle said as the opposing team limped to the sidelines.

Nichol glanced side eyed at the faunus. "I was following your instructions. You told me to get their attention," she said, with an ounce of aggravation.

"Yeah, get their attention, not nuke the poor girl halfway to Atlas," May replied with a little amusement in her voice.

Nichol scoffed. "You're one to talk," she mumbled. "Or did you intend to send those two boys into the stratosphere?"

Maybelle was at a loss. Had Nichol just made a joke? Judging by the satisfied look currently on the spear wielders face, it appeared so. Wow. Oran was never going to believe this.

"Seriously though, thanks," Maybelle said with sincerity, "for listening, I mean."

Nichol was silent for a moment. "Well..." she said quietly, "the plan you came up with wasn't terrible, so I saw little reason to go against it."

"OH MY GODS!" Oran yelled as he jogged over to the two huntresses with an excited look on his face. "Do my adorable doggie ears deceive me?" he said with his ears twitching to emphasize his point, "or did Nicky just actually almost compliment someone!?"

Nichol narrowed her eyes at her partner and let out what could only be described as an aggravated growl. However, Maybelle couldn't help but notice her silver haired teammate didn't deny the claim either, and that made MOON's leader smile a bit at how far her team had come in the last few weeks. The smile fell though, when Oreonna basically dragged herself over behind Oran and took her place with the rest of her team. There wasn't an ounce of spark in her pink eyes as she offered her teammates a mumbled congratulations. It hurt Maybelle to see the usually bright, shining, finally starting to come out of her shell, Oreonna that she'd come to know and love looking so down.

May winced as the word 'love' passed through her mind so effortlessly in regards her partner, and not for the first time in recent days. Apparently the little crush she'd developed on her teammate wasn't as easy to repress as the cow faunus had initially hoped. Still though, Maybelle had to keep those feelings buried for Oreonna's sake just as much as her own. The two of them were both at such a crucial point in there training now. Their dreams of becoming huntresses were too important to be bogged down by something as silly as teenage romance. Well... that, and May was afraid of pushing her new friend away.

But honestly, that was only part of the reason for the cow faunus' reluctance to pursue these feelings. Maybelle was still hurting from the train wreck that had been her last relationship. Things with Chleo had been a roller-coaster of emotions to say the least, one which May was nowhere near ready to get back on. It was clear that it would be easier for both of them if the blonde just ignored these -most likely one sided- feelings, but gods was it hard sometimes.

"Bravo, bravo! Truly a spectacular display of combat, children," Neight suddenly approached, clapping loudly and destroying May's train of thought. The bat faunus professor smiled widely, exposing his sharp fangs as he continued to praise team MOON, "Your teamwork has excelled tremendously in the last few classes. Take pride in this victory." The black dressed huntsman took up his normal routine of pacing in front of the group of teens with his hands behind his back as he went on with his evaluation. "However, be sure to remember that there is always room to improve," Neight suddenly spun and pointed one of his long fingers at Oran, making the hyena boy jump in surprise, "Mr. Bellows! You must endeavor to not put all of your focus on one singular enemy! Ms. Zedong caught you off guard far too many times with sniper fire during this bout."

"Yessir!" Oran said with a enthusiastic salute.

Professor Neight chuckled at his students eager attitude, then spun to face Oreonna. "Ms. Delsole!" The diminutive cat girl seemed to shrink even more under her teachers crimson gaze as he spoke, "Quite honestly, I'm not sure what to say in regards to what I witnessed today. The huntress in training I saw in the coliseum this morning was a far cry from what I'd observed in previous classes. I dare say, you almost seemed... distracted by something." Oreonna's cat ears went flat on her head in embarrassment at getting lectured in front of her friends.

"If there is something preoccupying your thoughts," the bat faunus continued, "always remember that myself and the rest of the faculty here at Shade are available for council." Neight finally stopped pacing to place a hand on the cat girls shoulder, "Failing that, you do have three other teammates to rely on as well. Do not be afraid to confide in them about your burdens."

Oreonna looked to her professor, then to her friends standing next to her before sighing, letting her head hang low and muttering a quiet, "Yes sir..."

Neight seemed satisfied by this and gave his pupil a -only slightly terrifying- smile. "Very well, you are dismissed. Enjoy the break from your studies as well as the holiday." The bat faunus took a step back and stood up straight as he address all of team MOON, "I know you all have been looking forward to your holiday break from school, but while I have not assigned additional homework for you, be sure to keep up your training regiments while gone, and I'll see you in a few days." With that, the tall, lanky huntsmen spun on his heel and marched over to offer his words of wisdom to team BRNZ next.

May beamed at her teammates as she proudly posed with her hand on her hip and Alexandra Grande on her shoulder, it's golden accents shining under the morning sun. "Nice job, team MOON! Now I know we're all excited to head home for break, but seeing as how none of us leave until tomorrow afternoon, I think this calls for a little sendoff party."

Nichol rolled her eyes. "If we must," the spear wielder said disdainfully, "I suppose since I get a long weekend off from you three I can stomach one final night of frivolity." The silver haired girl started walking off, "First though, I need a shower."

"Same," Oran said as he went to follow his teammate to the locker rooms in the Coliseum, "and I definitely need to sand-proof my gauntlets or something. It feels like I'm carrying an extra twenty pounds of dirt in my arms alone." To illustrate this point the hyena boy shook his wrist and sure enough, a thick stream of sand starting pouring out. The faunus boy smirked, "Not to mention all the other sand I got stuck up my-"

Nichol scoffed loudly before beginning to walk faster, away from her partner. Seeking the relative safety of the girls locker room, an invisible line she knew even Oran would never cross.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Oran said as he tried to keep up, "I was gonna say nose! My nose! I swear!"

May laughed quietly at the two of them as they left. _They seem to be getting along better... sorta?_ she thought to herself. Then the cow girl noticed Oreonna smiling slightly at her teammates antics as well. It was a good sign, but then she noticed the cat girl trying to sneak away, most likely to sulk alone like she had been the last few days. Unfortunately, that was not something Maybelle could allow, and she gently placed a hand on the black and white haired faunus' bare shoulder, stopping her retreat.

"We need to talk," May said.

Oreonna's only response was to look up at her leader with sad eyes and sigh.

* * *

Finding a secluded spot somewhere like Shade was a difficult but not insurmountable task. In fact, the spot May and Oreonna ended up settling on was the same balcony the cow faunus had found herself at a few weeks ago, when she'd had her talk with Professor Neight about Nichol. Maybelle had actually been coming here a lot since then, it was a good place to think, and the tall blonde had dubbed it her 'lucky spot'.

May settled in her usual spot, leaning against the balcony, unfazed by the long fall in front of her. Oreonna slowly walked to the end of the high perch, took one peek over the side, before she quickly took several steps back, settling in the center of the balcony and crossing her arms anxiously.

"So," Maybelle said as she turned to face the cat girl, ready to get to business, "you know why we're here?"

Oreonna stared nervously at the end of the balcony before her. "Hopefully not to help me get over my paralyzing fear of heights?" she said stiffly.

Maybelle laughed loudly for a moment before she noticed her partners rigged posture and how her tail seemed to be sticking out straight. Then the cow girl realized her friend wasn't at all joking and that she'd maybe chosen the worst possible spot for a 'nice chat'.

"Oh..." May said as she moved away from the edge and closer to her partner. "Um... no, but we'll be sure to put a pin in that one." Oreonna did seem to calm down now that it was apparent that her leader didn't expect her to join her in what the cat girl saw as an extremely perilous position. May continued, "The reason is; You haven't been yourself these last few days, and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"That's..." Oreonna started, but then took a deep breath, "You don't have to worry about me. It's fine, everything's fine, I'm fine, see?" The cat girl gave a wide, slightly disturbing, but ultimately fake, smile.

"Yeah, that's like, two 'fine's' too many for me to even come close to believing that, Oreonna."

The cat girls face fell and she looked off to the side, "...Is it that obvious?"

"To me it is," May said, which made Oreonna's wide eyes snap back to her leader. The blonde immediately realized the implication of what she'd said and quickly dialed it back, "And uh... Professor Neight, apparently," she added as nonchalantly as possible, doing her best to push those familiar feelings towards her feline partner away again.

A look flashed across the cat girls face that Maybelle could almost mistake for... disappointment? Or maybe the cow faunus was seeing things. Then Oreonna started rubbing her forearm with her gloved hand in that shy, cute way that just made May's heart soar like a-

 _Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Stop that._ Maybelle yelled internally.

"It's... stupid, really," Oreonna said hesitantly, regaining May's focus.

The cow girl smiled warmly. "Hey, no fair. If I can't use that excuse, neither can you," the blonde said, trying to get a smile out of her down in the dumps teammate. "Besides, I'm pretty stupid myself, so you might just be speaking my language."

That seemed to work. Oreonna let a small smile slip out, and her posture straightened a bit. "Alright, well..." the cat girl began, "I was talking to my dad a few days ago at the CCT station..."

* * *

Shade's CCT communication room was almost always full. There were about five dozen terminals in the station and still it's size often proved inadequate for the sheer volume of students that attended the academy who wanted to make a call to somewhere outside the kingdom. Luckily, there was another CCT station in the nearby city of Mirage in case of emergency, but the convenience of the terminal inside the school made it a popular first choice among it's alumni. If a student wanted to ensure they could make a call at a certain time, it was often in their best interest to schedule it in advance, which is exactly what Oreonna had done.

Tuesday nights were her time to see her Dad, so every week she made sure to reserve a terminal for herself, and the CCT pass her dad had bought for her before she left made sure the routine calls didn't drain the Delsole families bank account.

Usually their chats were pretty lighthearted. Oreonna would gush about her school life, her friends, and sometimes she'd go full geek and start gabbing about Symphonic Discord and any upgrades she'd been experimenting with. It was pretty obvious Tukson had no idea what his daughter was talking about when things got technical, but the giant faunus just smiled and nodded, knowing that if it made his little girl happy, then it must be important. The puma man's contribution to the conversation was usually slightly more tame by comparison, mainly him bragging about something as mundane as steaming his own vegetables for dinner, or getting to be early, but still the fact that he was at least trying to take care of himself put the cat girls mind at ease.

Unfortunately tonight's conversation didn't have nearly as much levity. Oreonna sat silently in front of the screen, her shoulders low and a depressed look in her eyes. Starring back at her from the other side of the video chat, Tukson wore a similar expression.

"I'm so sorry, Oreo," he said, his hand on his forehead and guilt etched into his face.

"It's... it's okay, dad... really," Oreonna replied, trying to soften the blow of the bad news she'd just received with the most convincing smile she could muster.

"No, it's not okay, dammit," it was rare for Tukson to give in to frustration, but the tone of his voice now made it clear the situation he'd found himself in had pushed him too far. "I know you were excited to come back home to Vale for the holiday, and I should have gotten that old furnace looked at months ago instead of waiting for it to crap out on me just before the start of winter. Now because of that rip-off artist of a repairman I can't even afford to fly my own daughter home and-"

"Dad," Oreonna cut in, trying to reel her father back from his anger, "It's okay. I'm okay. I mean it." The cat girl kept a brave face up for her often overworked parent despite her disappointment, but this wasn't anyone's fault. This whole thing just boiled down to bad luck.

There had been a bizarre cold snap in Vale, as summer was transitioning to fall. Tukson had been hard at work at the book trade, when he suddenly heard a loud hissing followed by a 'boom!' as the decades old furnace in the stores basement was finally granted the death it had pined for all these years. This wouldn't have been an issue if it was just the Delsole's apartment that it kept warm, but that dust guzzling machine was also responsible for heating Tukson's Book Trade, and during what promised to be another cold winter in Vale, the customers expected the store to be a comfortable temperature at all times. Plainly; No heat meant no customers, which meant no money, which would only lead to more economical problems for the faunus family.

And so Tukson had been forced to make a tough financial decision, not for the first time either. Either he got the repairs done ASAP, and would be unable to afford to pay for Oreonna's airship flight home. Or ignore the problem for a month or so, thus giving it the chance to snowball into an even bigger one, even including losing the bookstore all together. Based on the tone of the conversation now, it was easy to guess which option he'd chosen.

"Really, dad, don't worry about me, I understand," Oreonna said, continuing to try and put her fathers mind at ease. It was true, she did understand. This wasn't the first time her dad had been forced to break a promise, but she always knew the man was trying his best with what little the two of them had. They'd had a similar conversation about Beacon a few months back before she left, and Oreonna had accepted that with minimal fuss as well. That's just how her life was, the cat girl had learned a long time ago that she just had to accept what she couldn't control, and embrace the fact that most likely things weren't always going to go her way, and truthfully, they usually didn't. Eventually the young faunus just got used to not getting her hopes up about anything. It was just easier that way, for everyone. Was Oreonna disappointed? Of course. She'd been planning for the last month. Looking forward to seeing not only her dad, but Yang and Ruby, and all her others friends back in Vale, but she couldn't let her her father know. The old faunus was already working himself into an early grave for her and seeing her upset would only stress him out more. At this rate, that stubborn man would probably end up dying working in that damn bookstore, Oreonna couldn't stop that, but she could at least help lighten his burden. Whether it be helping out in the shop in her free time, or swallowing yet another incredibly bitter pill of disappointment for him.

"I hate letting you down like this, Oreo," Tukson said slouching in his chair at the CCT terminal across the continent in Vale.

Oreonna leaned closer to the screen. "Hey, you're not letting anyone down," she told the man, forcing sincerity into her voice to hide the pain, "you do what you have to, dad. And I'll be okay. I promise." The cat girl smiled, desperately wishing her father was actually here to offer one of his big bear hugs, they always made things like this easier.

Tukson returned the smile. "Okay... but I swear I'm gonna make this up to you!" the elder faunus said, excitement returning to his tone. "I'll be sure to send you a big care package for the holiday. Also, when you come down for the Vytal Festival in a few months we'll have a big welcome home party. We'll invite Yang, and all you old friends from Signal, and your teammates! Yeah! I can't wait to meet them! It'll be great! I'll even close down the Book Trade for a few days too."

"That... sounds like fun, dad... thanks." It wasn't a lie necessarily, that really did sound amazing to Oreonna, but at the same time there was that part of her that wouldn't let her get excited about something like that. Things would go wrong, work would come up, something would happen. Still, she didn't let her dad know, she just wore that same practiced smile she always did.

Oreonna just wanted to protect her father from any sadness she could. It was a truth she'd learned a long time ago, that her happiness came second to the happiness of others, and she was okay with that... Well, she was used to it anyway, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

* * *

So the cat faunus had carried this sadness with her for almost a week now, hiding it as best she could. There was no sense in burdening her teammates with something so trivial. Apparently she didn't hide it very well though, considering she was having this conversation with Maybelle now.

"I know, it's not really a big deal," Oreonna explained, "I'll just stay at school over holiday break, that's all."

The cat girl thought she was an expert at hiding her true feelings, at this point in her life she'd had plenty of practice, but unlike her dad, Maybelle seemed to see right through her friends facade. "Unacceptable."

"Um... what?" Oreonna titled her head in confusion at her leaders response.

"Unacceptable," Maybelle repeated. "I refuse to leave you here all alone in this big, mostly empty school... tree... thing, for your first holiday break in a new kingdom."

"May, I told you, it's fi-"

"Hup, hup, hup, hup, hup," May interrupted, raising a hand to silence Oreonna, "I'm not trying to get involved in your family matters, and I'll back off if you ask me to, but first I want you to look me in the eye right now and tell me you're really okay with staying here at Shade while everyone else is off visiting friends and family."

Oreonna gave May a surprisingly stern look, feeling a little irritated that her friend wouldn't just let this go, but if hearing it from her one more time would finally let her leader accept this, she'd do it. However the instant the black and white haired faunus locked her pink eyes onto the blondes deep brown one, she felt her resolve waver. "I..." The cat girl felt her throat tighten slightly, "I'm... okay with..."

Damn it. Why was May so hard to lie to?

The shorter faunus was forced to break eye contact as her real feelings surfaced and the truth finally came out, "I... I just didn't want anyone to worry about me..."

"Tough luck," May replied with a supportive smile, before she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around Oreonna, "We're partners, Oreo. Worrying about you is part of my job. Especially when your too stubborn to worry about yourself."

The cat girl relaxed into the embrace, still feeling guilty about bringing this up. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just not good at talking about stuff like this."

The taller faunus hugged her friend tightly. "That's okay. You just need to always remember that your feelings matter. Don't bottle them up like that just because you think they're a burden to other people. They're not, especially not to the ones that care about you. If you're sad about something, be sad, let us know. You don't ever have to suffer in silence, okay?"

"...Okay..." Oreonna offered begrudgingly. She knew all this was probably true... probably... but feeling this way had just been kind of hard-wired into her brain after all these years. Thinking that things could ever be to the contrary was just too foreign a concept to her, but May seemed convinced otherwise so maybe there was something to this?

Maybelle ended the hug then, but still kept her big, gloved hands on her partners petite shoulders, smiling as she maintained eye contact. "Alright, now that that's settled; I want you to repeat after me." Oreonna gave her partner a strange look as she continued, "How I feel matters, not just to me, but to my friends."

May watched her smaller friend with an expectant look. Did she really expect her to... The cat girl rolled her eyes before repeating, "How I feel matters... not just to me, but to my friends," she said in a slightly mocking voice.

May didn't seem to mind as she giggled lightly. Oreonna let out a brief laugh as well at that. Then the cow faunus continued, "No matter how 'stupid' I think my problems might be, I will tell my friends if something is bothering me."

Oreonna sighed in exasperation, this was so stupid, but for some reason she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She repeated her friend once again, slightly more seriously now.

"Good, now lastly," May's little 'exercise' went on. Oreonna didn't mind necessarily, but she was beginning to notice that her leaders tough, warm leather gloves were starting to make her bare shoulders sweat a little... "I will go to my thoughtful, yet slightly overbearing, but still drop dead gorgeous partners house during the holiday break."

The black and white haired girl was so focused on her partners grip on her that she got halfway through repeating Maybelle before she realized what she was agreeing to. "Wait, WHAT!?"

The tall blonde let out a bellowing laugh at her flustered teammate. "Just to be clear," May said, "Which part of that statement were you disagreeing with?"

Oreonna felt her face heat up at the question. It was obvious which part she took issue with! Well, not that it wasn't obvious that Maybelle was- Not that Oreonna had ever noticed-

 _UGH! BAD BRAIN! SHUT UP!_

"I-I can't just show up at your house on such short notice!" the now very flustered cat girl said in exasperation. Her tail starting to wag back and forth in an anxious manner.

"Sure you can," May replied, seemingly unfazed by her partners antics. "We have a huge farmhouse, so there's plenty of space, and we only live, like, thirty minutes out from Mirage so it's close, plus, mom's already cooking for nine, so what's one more? Besides I always used to bring over-" The cow faunus stopped suddenly, a brief flash of realization on her face before she kept going, "-Er... friends all the time. So one more won't put us out at all, so uh, why not?"

Oreonna wondered the reason behind Maybelle's stutter, but was way too busy squirming in her own discomfort at the offer. She didn't want to impose herself upon this family that she hadn't even met yet by interrupting their holiday plans with her presence.

May noticed her partners discomfort and her smile fell. "Oh gods, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to force you into it. I guess I got a little overexcited at the idea." The cow girl rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, " I know it's kind of a lot to throw at you all at once. I just... really couldn't stand the idea of you sitting here all alone."

Oreonna looked up at her leader as she went on, "I mean, I know Nichol would be here with you, and I heard you guys worked out some of your... issues, but it seems like she'd be looking forward to some time to herself anyway. Hell, I'd invite her too if I thought there was a chance in hell she'd say 'yes'," May rolled her eyes slightly. "You don't have to answer me right now. I don't leave until tomorrow afternoon, so you can at least sleep on it. Just let me know, okay? We'd love to have you," May punctuated her statement with a wink that the cat girl could only offer a flustered smile in response too.

This was a lot for someone to ask of the shy Oreonna, spending a few days with a bunch of strangers, she could already feel her social anxiety starting to peak at the idea alone. Plus, she really didn't want to feel like an inconvenience the entire time she was visiting. May would be there, sure, but she couldn't babysit the smaller faunus the entire time. If Oreonna was going to do this, she had to stand on her own two feet in the new environment. Though thinking of it as some kind of challenge to break out of her shell made the black and white haired girl slightly more motivated to try it. Maybe some part of her, deep down inside, actually really wanted to do this?

How bad could it be really? Maybelle had talked about her family a lot since team MOON had formed. They sounded like nice folks, if not a little exhausting given there was nine of them under one roof. Would they really be okay with adding another person to their plans? Truthfully, Oreonna really didn't want to spend the holiday at school. Maybelle was right about Nichol feeling a bit more sociable these days, but the silver haired girl still valued her privacy, and any good will between her and Oreonna could be destroyed if the two were forced to spend a whole weekend together. Even if the cat faunus didn't want to completely rely on Maybelle to get through this, she'd still be there for her, just like always. So what if things got awkward? The two of them had pretty much maxed out on awkwardness during their little training/first aid incident, it would take a lot to even come close to topping that. Slowly, the violinist was running out of reasons to turn down her leaders offer.

Maybe it was her fear of having to spend her first holiday away from home all alone, or maybe because of how miserable the cat girl had been these last few days as a result of the situation with her dad, or maybe it had something to do with the kind, patient smile May was giving her right now, but Oreonna was convinced. It'd be great, after all she'd barely seen any of Vacuo aside from Mirage and Shade, and seeing the countryside would be exciting in and of itself.

Yeah, what did she have to lose?

But at that point, Maybelle, invitation given, turned to leave, and Oreonna's often socially anxious mind went into panic mode, worried that if she didn't give her leader an answer now, she'd never be able to build up the courage to do so later. Which lead to that cat girl practically yelling, "Let's do it!" at the top of her lungs at the tall faunus. Maybelle practically leapt out of her skin in surprise at the outburst, as did the several students that happened to be passing by the balcony they were on, a few of them giving the duo some strange looks. On the plus side, Oreonna was no longer worried about the holiday plans she'd just made, because she was pretty sure she was just going to die at that moment from embarrassment.

* * *

The next morning in team MOON's dorm, Oreonna was finishing up packing her suitcase for her weekend getaway. With three quick zips she sealed up the bag laying on her bed then carried it over and placed it by the door, ready to be picked up as she left. The cat faunus still had about an hour till she was supposed to meet May in the gardens outside Shade Academy. Enough time for her to shower and get changed into whatever clothes she had that would pass as 'fancy'. Sure, she could just wear her normal combat gear, her long black dress and white opera style gloves more or less fit the vibe the faunus felt like she should be going for, but this occasion just felt... special. Besides, she wore that outfit almost every day, this was a chance to mix things up. "Live a little", as Yang often told her back home. Plus she was meeting Maybelle's family for the first time, and Oreonna wanted to make a good impression on them... for May's sake, of course.

This proved to be a greater challenge than the black and white haired teen expected, as she stood in her bathrobe, still damp from her shower, and stared vacantly into her dresser drawers. Her mind was racing trying to put together 'the perfect outfit'. It had to be elegant, but not extravagant, cute, but not childish, and fun, but practical. Apparently this was no easy feat, and the cat girl felt her patience starting to waver.

Oreonna groaned loudly. She wished Yang was here now, she was always way better at this kind of stuff. The cat faunus had never been good at 'dolling herself up', her combat gear was probably the most expensive article of clothing she owned, and she could count the number of times she'd applied her own makeup on one hand... with many fingers left to spare... zero... zero was the number of times that had happened.

That's usually were Yang came in. It wasn't often, but whenever the outgoing blonde had managed to drag the introverted cat girl to the club, or some other equally overpopulated place with ear splitting music, Yang was the one who helped Oreonna dress accordingly. She'd even tried more than once to get Oreonna to wear slightly more... provocative clothing during their adventures into the nightlife, which the cat girl would always outright refuse. Those types of clothes just didn't seem like a good fit to the violinist... in more ways than one if she was honest.

Oreonna gave her head a quick shake, trying to clear away the thoughts of her more... _developed_ friend, as well as the surprising blush in her cheeks, as she turned to check the clock on the wall. She still had about 45 minutes until May was expecting her, she could through together a half decent outfit by then, right?... Sure!... Maybe...

The distressed cat girl hung her head at the seemingly insurmountable task she'd put before herself. Then with a growl of conviction and/or frustration, she grabbed an armful of clothes and carried them into the dorms bathroom. Somewhere in this pile of garments was the combination that would live up to her apparently very high standards, it was just a simple matter of process of elimination.

Thus began a montage of an increasingly frustrated cat girl disappearing into a bathroom, exiting in a new outfit, walking to the full length mirror in the corner of the dorm, inspecting said outfit, sighing loudly, then retreating back into the bathroom. This went on for some time. Oreonna had always thought she'd had a pretty limited wardrobe, but the sheer number of combinations and different styles to wear the outfits was making her head spin.

Eventually she was distressed to find that she'd unintentionally started repeating outfits, and sank to her knees in front of the mirror in despair. This was all so stupid, she'd never gotten this worked up about looking pretty before, what made this any different? Why did she care so much about pleasing Maybelle's parents?

But maybe it wasn't her leaders parents she wanted to impress...

Maybe it was...

"You're making a lot of noise," Oreonna hopped up to her feet with a shriek of surprise. She turned quickly to see Nichol reclining on her bed with a blue book in her hands, looking more confused then agitated.

"When did you get here?" the cat girl asked in a panic, her second set of ears standing at attention.

Nichol closed the book in her lap. "Somewhere between the last two or three outfits," she answered. "What are you doing? Or more importantly, can it be done quieter?" slight annoyance sneaking into her tone.

The cat girl sat on Maybelle's bed, as it was the one closest to the mirror she'd been torturing herself in front of, which made sense, seeing as how that was who the mirror belonged to. Oreonna briefly considered asking her teammate her opinion on a proper outfit, but then she remembered she'd never seen Nichol wear anything aside from her armor -much like right now- so she doubted the silver haired girl cared about such things.

"I'm supposed to be spending the weekend at May's with her family," the violinist said, "I guess I'm just having trouble coming up with something to wear is all. I'll be out of your hair in a minute, Nichol."

The silverette stared at her teammate for a moment. "A weekend at Maybelle's? Hm."

"Hm?" Oreonna mimicked in confusion.

"Nothing," Nichol said as she swung her legs off her bed to stand. "I've just noticed the two of you spend an awful lot of time together is all."

Oreonna gave a few baffled blinks at her teammate. What did that have to do with anything? "So what?"

The spear wielder merely shrugged. "Like I said; it's just something I noticed. Probably best not to dwell on it."

Oreonna could of sworn she saw Nichol smirking as she turned to place her book on the nearby shelf. Did the stoic spear wielder know something she didn't? For some reason, the cat girl was starting to feel oddly embarrassed about the topic. It was just a weekend... and dinner... at May's home... with her family... and then spending the night at her house... then the holiday... It's not like it was a big deal or anything... was it?

They were just friends. Friends hanging out together, that's all. There was absolutely nothing weird or... romantic about that. Nope. Nothing at all.

But then why was her heart beating so fast just thinking about it?

"What's wrong with the outfit you're wearing?" Oreonna snapped back to reality to see Nichol had come closer, studying her teammate's appearance.

The cat faunus looked down at what she had deemed the most recent failure in her quest. It was a black and white striped, v-neck polo, a small yellow emblem on the upper left adding a splash of color, and a pair of dark colored jeans on her lower half. Giving the outfit a second look, it wasn't terrible, the shirt was a little tighter than the violinist usually wore, but not uncomfortable and her locket's golden sheen complimented the darker colors quite well. The mirror told a different tale however, and something seemed... off about the whole ensemble, and Oreonna just couldn't put her finger on it.

"I don't know..." the short faunus said despairingly, "I mean, I like it, I guess, but there's just something about it I can't-"

"Your hair," Nichol interrupted.

Oreonna gave the silverette a weird look, before turning back to the mirror and looking at the split of black and white hair hanging over her shoulders. "My hair?"

"You should wear it back, expose your neckline more," the spear wielder explained. "Also you should take out your barrette. Too much gold is clashing with the top."

The cat faunus stared vacantly at Nichol with a bewildered look for a moment before slowly turning back to the mirror. She reluctantly took out her iconic musical note hairpiece before pulling her hair back over her shoulders and holding it in place with her hands. Oreonna was stunned to see that with such minor alterations the look suddenly came together. The cat girl continued to stare shocked at the seemingly magical transformation she'd undergone. It was like something out of some cheesy romantic comedy Yang used to watch with her during slumber parties when they were younger. The ones where the shy bookworm took off her glasses and ran a comb through her messy hair then suddenly became a goddess of beauty and grace then proceeded to get the man of her dreams. The two girls had always laughed at how unrealistic it seemed, but now Oreonna didn't know what to think. Giving up on trying to understand the apparent witchcraft Nichol had just cast on her, the cat faunus tried to remember if she had some hair elastics somewhere around-

"Here," Nichol, seemingly reading her teammates mind as she held out her spool of tough leather string she used to tie her hair braids every morning, the same one she'd let Oreonna use to hold up her locket a week or so ago. The generosity wasn't necessarily a new trend for the silverette, but acts like this still caught the cat girl off guard considering how far the relationship between the two of them had come recently. Nichol waved the spool in front of the frozen Oreonna, gesturing her to just take it already, no other words needing to be exchanged between them.

Oreonna took the spool and cut off a small string with a knife Nichol supplied. She tied her hair back and began studying herself in the mirror. Nichol was right, the loose ponytail really was the final puzzle piece the cat girl needed. "Thanks, Nichol," the faunus said genuinely, "but how do you know about this kind of stuff?" she tried asking as politely as possible.

Nichol responded with a curious look. "I... didn't think this was particularly unique knowledge to have," she said in confusion. "I mean, isn't it obvious?" the silverette cocked her head slightly. The violinist stared dumbfounded by the matter of fact way her teammate had said this. Was Oreonna really so bad at this kind of stuff? Worse than someone like Nichol somehow?

But then her eyes went to the clock on the wall. _CRAP!_ How did she manage to spend fifteen minutes in the shower but then forty five minutes just trying on clothes!? May was probably already outside waiting! She had to get down there fast.

"ThanksNicholgottagoseeyouonMondayBye!" Oreonna spat quickly as she grabbed a grey colored hoodie off her bedpost and her bag then bolted out the door, nearly bowling over Oran in the process. "HiOranSorryOranByeOran."

"What!? What's happening? Is the tree-school on fire? I swear I had nothing to do with- Aaaaaaand she's gone. Cool," Oran tried to say to his feline teammate as she flashed past him. The hyena boy's look deflated slightly, but then he noticed Nichol just getting back into her usual reading position and he perked up considerably. "Hey, Nicky! What's up with our cookie cat?"

The silverette rolled her eyes, "Nichol," she corrected. "And she's late to meet with Maybelle."

Oran was confused for about a half second before the lights in his head turned on. "Oh yeah! They're having girl time this weekend! Cute!" The jokester said holding his mechanical hands together under his chin, "Kinda wish Oreo had told me first, Mom and me coulda used the company, but first come first serve I suppose. Hey! I don't suppose you want to-"

"No," Nichol deadpanned.

Oran winced a little at the instant refusal, but shrugged none the less. "Well, worth a shot. See you when I get back, Nicky!"

"Oran..." Nichol's voice stopped the hyena boy in place. For the first time since he entered the room, the silverette looked up from her book at her partner a hint of regret in here orange eyes. "I... Thanks for the invitation," she said almost awkwardly, feeling like she'd perhaps been a little overly rude, "but I have something I need to do while you're all gone. I can't put it off any longer. it's very important.

Oran looked at his partner with concern. "Everything okay?"

"It's fine, Oran. Go enjoy your holiday."

The hyena boy wanted to persist on the subject, but Nichol was already back in her book. "Okay, if you say so. Hey, maybe next year, right?" he said with a small grin.

Nichols eyes darted upward for about half a second to look Oran in the eye, before she looked away again, blocking her face with her book before she mumbled, "Maybe..."

Oran's smile exploded onto his face. "Woah! Honestly wasn't expecting that! Awesome! I'm gonna hold you to that y'know!" the faunus was practically bouncing with excitement at the very thought of this. "Anyway, don't have too much fun without us. Okay, Nicky?" With that, Oran practically skipped out of the room.

Nichol sat in silence for a moment after he left, before scoffing.

"Fun... right..."

* * *

Oreonna hurried down the many stairs of Shade Academy, praying it'd be faster than the elevator. She dodged the other students who were also on their way out as best she could. Luckily quickly twisting and twirling out of danger was a big part of her fighting style so she didn't knock anyone down in her haste, even with a packed suitcase in her hand. She was already about five minutes late to meet May at this point and that was pushing her to go faster. Punctuality meant a lot to the cat girl, though she doubted Maybelle would be too upset with her, she was always understanding when it came to stuff like that.

At the thought of her waiting leader, Oreonna couldn't shake Nichol's off handed comment about the two of them from her head.

 _I've just noticed the two of you spend an awful lot of time together is all._

Why was that so weird? The two of them didn't spend THAT much time together. Well, they sat next to each other in lunch, they studied together, and trained together... and sat together in the classes they shared... also they shared a room together... and usually did stuff with each other on weekends... aaaaaand now they were spending a holiday together.

So what though? She liked hanging out with May. She was cool headed, nice, confident, and tough. Oreonna looked up to her in a lot of ways, especially given their height difference.

They were just friends. That's all. There was no deeper, concealed just beneath the surface, feelings between them.

 _Besides, Maybelle might be into girls, but there was no way someone like her could ever feel that way about someone like me,_ Oreonna thought to herself, feeling her cheeks grow hot suddenly for some reason. _A-and more importantly, I'm not... like that... with girls... anyway. Not that there's anything wrong with being... like that..._ the cat girls blush grew somehow hotter as this topic was making her more and more embarrassed to even think about. _I mean, I'm not saying that May's not attractive or anything, it's just..._ Oreonna groaned loudly, attracting the attention of passing students. _ENOUGH! I AM NOT ATTRACTED TO MY PARTNER! AND THAT'S FINAL! I'm just spending a few days at her families house because she was kind enough to invite me._ _That's all!_

Satisfied that she'd apparently won the mental skirmish with herself, the cat girl finally made her way to the courtyard surrounding Shade. The gardens looked as radiant as they had the day Oreonna had arrived here a month or so ago. It had been slightly colder here in the desert climate as summer was on it's way out, and an early fall reared it's head, but the plants and flowers seemed completely unaffected by the change in temperature and continued to thrive around Shade, and Shade alone.

Many students had gathered here in the courtyard as well, as they said their goodbyes to friends and teammates in preparation to leave for the long holiday weekend. Oreonna scanned the crowd for any sign of her bovine friend, but after two passes over everyone in sight she was surprised when she couldn't find the tall blonde. The short faunus checked her scroll to see if she'd gotten any last minute messages from May, but her inbox was empty. She looked over the pack of students again, but still no luck, though this time she did pick out a couple of familiar faces. Namely, Nebula and Gwen from team NDGO.

The two teammates were talking to someone with their back to Oreonna, it was a girl. The cat faunus stared at the mysterious new person for a moment, there was something oddly familiar about her... Just then, Nebula noticed Oreonna staring, and nudged Gwen next to her to get the darker haired girls attention. The two of them gave the faunus girl a sly smile before saying something to the tall blonde they were talking to-

Wait. Tall blonde?

Sure enough, said blonde turned and her chocolate brown eyes lit up at the sight of Oreonna. The violinist's jaw dropped. It was May, but at the same time it wasn't? Or at least, Oreonna had never seen her partner like **this** before.

The cow girl had only ever really had two looks to the black and white haired faunus. Either she was in her full armor, making her look strong, powerful and imposing, like a huntress should, with Alexandra Grande usually completing the look. Or she was wearing her tank top and shorts she wore to bed, which was usually the first thing Oreonna saw in the morning; her leader sprawled out on the bed next to hers, mouth hanging open and covers kicked off.

Oreonna wasn't looking at either of those outfits right now. Standing before her now was a blonde bombshell wearing a long black skirt that went down just past her knees coming to a pair of heeled boots of a matching color. A brown leather vest rested over her shoulders, over a tight white dress shirt, it's first few buttons undone. But what had really thrown the violinist off was she had never seen her leader with her hair down before. The messy bun was undone and instead May's short blonde hair hung down to just over her neck, curling lightly at the tips. The golden locks shined brilliantly, giving the sun a run for it's money in Oreonna's opinion, and also perfectly framing Maybelle's radiant smile.

The cat girl was at a loss for words, her heart slamming against her chest. Maybelle jogged over casually, her hair swaying as she moved, Oreonna silently prayed her leader hadn't noticed her gawking. "Mornin' Oreo! Ready to head out?" To her credit the flabbergasted cat girl managed a small nod despite her own heartbeat drowning out all the sound around her in the crowded courtyard. May smiled brightly before looking off to the side, suddenly looking embarrassed. "You um... look great by the way," she said, a little color coming to her cheeks as she pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Oreonna was pretty sure her heart was going into overdrive from the simple compliment. Not to mention the fact she was still reeling from May's striking and shocking new appearance. Somehow, the half of a remaining brain cell she still had functioning managed to allow her to stammer out, "Y-you too."

Maybelle's smile expanded, her pearly white teeth on display. The cat faunus felt what could only be compared to fireworks going off in her chest at the sight. _Gods, what is happening to me?_ Behind the blonde, Gwen and Nebula waved at the violinist as they took their leave as well, NDGO's leader giving Oreonna a wink that made the cat girls stomach twist in a knot.

"Welp, my Dad'll be waiting for us down in Mirage, let's get moving, airships a'waiting," May said with a hand on her hip, the familiar pose doing a good job of reminding Oreonna that this was, in fact, Maybelle she was talking to. Then the cow girl turned away, signaling Oreonna to follow.

Still in a stupor, the beyond overwhelmed cat girl complied. Though she was beginning to wonder just what she'd gotten herself into.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **A/N- Hope you enjoyed me making claims to understand the climate of desert areas as well as have any kind of sense of fashion! But what are the odds anyone who knows anything about either of those things is reading this? Heh heh... (Sweats nervously)**_

 _ **Also the ships are at full mast and setting sail! Lot's of emotional stuff incoming! I'm into it!**_

 _ **Also I couldn't decide on a name for the nondescript holiday these kiddos would be celebrating. Christmas just seems weird because I don't want to get into the idea of Remnant Jesus, also wrong season. I've seen other fan fics make up names for holidays, like Dustmas, but honestly that juts sounds a little too cringey to me. But if anyone out there has any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them. I was thinking something involving the moon and the faunus that eventually became commercialized by humans, also they'll be gifts! I just need some help with names is all ;P**_

 _ **Anyway, my plan is to get through the "holiday" arc in the next few chapters. One focusing on each member of team MOON.**_

 _ **One for Oran**_

 _ **One for Nichol**_

 _ **And one for Oreonna and Maybelle**_

 _ **When will those come out? No idea. But I have plans and I am excited to see them come to light! Hope you all are too!**_


End file.
